GCU clamps down on defense to beat Benedictine Mesa

Grand Canyon coach Dan Majerle summarized his team's 95-71 victory over NAIA Benedictine Mesa on Tuesday night at GCU Arena with one word:

"Brutal."

Defense on the perimeter was scarce in the first half, the bench was once again almost non-existent, and the Antelopes again had to ride guard Joshua Braun (26 points) and forward Grandy Glaze (25) on offense to improve to 21-4 as it took a break from the Western Athletic Conference basketball schedule.

They head back out on the road Friday night to play Seattle, the team that pulled out a win on a late follow-up basket two weeks ago to trigger GCU's funk.

Benedictine, counting this game as an exhibition, had nothing to lose on Tuesday and showed it, playing freely and shooting unconsciously. The Redhawks made 10 of 17 3-pointers in the first half, before cooling off to 2 for 11 in the second half.

GCU's Dan Majerle concerned about team's confidence

Bobby Ward made his first five 3-point attempts.

It was a 67-62 game after Kyle Tomlinson made his fourth 3-pointer with 12 minutes left, before the Antelopes went on a 23-2 run.

Majerle's defense defined him as an NBA player. So what he saw, especially in the first half when the Redhawks were hitting just about everything from behind the arc, didn't sit well with him.

GCU also had trouble finishing around the rim at times.

"It's everything," Majerle said. "Just the body language, staying in your stance, knowing your assignments, boxing out, putting a hand up when a guy shoots the basketball. I mean, how hard is that, to put a hand up to try to stop a guy from shooting? Just an effort."

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With Matt Jackson banged up, Majerle decided to rest him against Benedictine and start Keonta Vernon in the frontcourt with Glaze.

It was a good combination, as Vernon scored 12 of his 19 points in the first 10 minutes.

"We have to put two halves together," said Vernon, who had three blocks. "It all starts on defense. We can't let them have wide-open shots. We take pride in our defense."

Defense got better in the second half when the Redhawks made just 11 of 28 shots. GCU shot 54 percent and had nine more rebounds. Glaze had 15 of his team's 42 rebounds.

Braun made three of his team's six 3-pointers. He also had nine rebounds and made all nine of his free throws.

"We have to stay focused, stay energized," Braun said. "I think we did a poor job of that tonight.

"I don't think we were mentally prepared today. Guys took things lightly. We all did."

Benedictine's roster is comprised mostly of former Arizona prep players.

Reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-460-1710. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.