GCU men’s basketball dominates Norfolk State in Duke Brennan’s season debut

GCU men’s basketball notched its first blowout win of the season on Friday, knocking off Norfolk State 91-73 as starting center Duke Brennan made his season debut.

The ‘Lopes doubled up the Spartans with a 54-27 first half in which Brennan was one of four GCU starters with at least nine points. The team had 19 assists on 21 made shots in the dominant half, with five players tallying three each. The team would continue the trend with 12 assists on 12 second-half buckets.

The center wasted no time making an impact, cutting off driving lanes to force a turnover on his first defensive possession before he earned a bucket with some screens on his first offensive possession.

First bucket of the campaign for @dukebrennan86 to open this one! pic.twitter.com/Vu0V6M7VdC

— Grand Canyon Men’s Basketball (@GCU_MBB) November 23, 2024

“Adding (Brennan) obviously makes a huge difference with our team: spacing, his toughness, rebounding, frees stuff up for other guys on the court,” coach Bryce Drew told the ESPN+ broadcast at the half. “Loved our ball movement, loved our shot selection and thankfully made shots.”

And made shots, they did. GCU shot a blistering 72.4% from the field with Brennan hitting four of his five looks and the team going 8-for-12 on 3-point shots.

Brennan kept up the offensive effort with a dunk to start the second half, but a 10-0 response from Norfolk State added a bit of spice.

The ‘Lopes, however, kept the Spartans at bay thanks to the cushion they earned in the first half, never letting their lead slip below 15. GCU’s previous best win this season came by 10 points in the opener over Cal State Fullerton.

Wings Tyon Grant-Foster and JaKobe Coles each had 20-point outings to lead GCU, and they combined to add eight assists. Brennan finished with 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting with a game-high seven rebounds.

GCU next travels to Palm Springs for a neutral-site matchup with Stanford, which beat this same Norfolk State team 70-63 on Wednesday. The ‘Lopes will square off against the Cardinal on Tuesday at 5 p.m. MST on truTV.