Maryland men’s basketball learned its NCAA Tournament draw Sunday night, and the No. 4 seed Terps will open in Seattle at 4:35 p.m. Friday against No. 13 seed Grand Canyon. While the Antelopes play in a mid-major conference — the Western Athletic Conference — the school is not your typical mid-major program.
Grand Canyon’s estimated enrollment this academic year was a whopping 125,000, with 25,000 on campus sites and another 100,000 enrolled online. The for-profit Christian university has a sizable online presence, and it’s grown its physical footprint in recent years. The men’s basketball program moved up to the Division I level in 2013-14, and it has made three consecutive NCAA Tournaments under coach Bryce Drew.
Here are three things Maryland fans should know about the Antelopes from an on-court perspective:
Their coach is an NCAA Tournament legend
Drew, who led Grand Canyon to an NCAA Tournament win over Saint Mary’s last season as a No. 12 seed, is well-known for his March Madness heroics as a player. The former Valparaiso guard hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in 1998 to upset No. 4 seed Arizona, 70-69. His 3-point shot is one of the most replayed moments in NCAA Tournament history.
Valparaiso trailed Arizona by two points with less than three seconds left. The Crusaders, now Beacons, tossed an inbounds pass over half-court with a baseball-style throw. The lengthy pass was caught and quickly tossed to Drew. The shooter delivered with a game-winning jumper, and his teammates mobbed him on the court in celebration. Valparaiso’s coach in 1998 was Homer Drew, Bryce’s father, and the father-son storyline was among the reasons Valparaiso became one of the NCAA Tournament’s most famous Cinderella stories.
Drew began his head coaching career at Valparaiso and took the team to a pair of NCAA Tournaments before he left for Vanderbilt in 2017. He spent three seasons there before being fired. He joined Grand Canyon for the 2020-21 season and has led the program to three NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons.
Drew’s brother, Scott, won the 2021 national championship as Baylor’s coach.
They have a Power Four win
The Antelopes can’t be overlooked by Maryland, as they have a win over an Atlantic Coast Conference team earlier this year — 78-71 over Stanford on a neutral court in November. They also have competitive losses to Arizona State and Georgia, which earned a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Grand Canyon lost to Arizona State by 11, but it only trailed by one point at halftime. Georgia beat the Lopes by just five points, as they used 14 offensive rebounds to help make up for a middling shooting performance.
They were balanced in the win over Stanford, with six players scoring at least eight points. That’s the norm for this year’s team. Guard Tyon Grant-Foster and forward JaKobe Coles both earned spots on the All-WAC first team, and they’re two of the four Antelopes who average at least 10 points per game.
Grand Canyon ranks 92nd in KenPom, an advanced metric that rates a team’s offensive and defensive efficiency. The Antelopes rank 149th in offensive efficiency, but it’s the defense ranking of 67th that separates the program from other mid-major teams. Grand Canyon has held teams to 46.4% shooting on 2-point attempts, the 25th-best mark in the nation.
Maryland ranks 116th nationally in 2-point shooting at 52.6%. The Antelopes will test Terps forward Julian Reese and center Derik Queen, who form one of the best starting frontcourts in the Big Ten. The duo averages 29.4 points and 18 rebounds per game.
Junior center Duke Brennan, listed at 6-foot-10 and 250 pounds, earned a spot on the All-WAC defensive team. The Arizona State transfer averages 10.7 points and 9.2 rebounds this season. The 6-7 Foster paced the team with 1.6 blocks per game during the regular season. Grand Canyon’s excellent defense helps them hang with teams from major conferences.
The Antelopes turn it over often
Grand Canyon turns the ball over on 18.4% of its possessions, which puts it in the bottom 100 nationally. Maryland forces a turnover on just over 20% of its opponents’ possessions, which ranks in the top 40 nationally.
Maryland’s press should cause problems for the Antelopes, who struggled with turnovers in their losses this season. Grand Canyon coughed the ball up on 20% of its possessions against Arizona State, and the Lopes lost their final regular-season game to Abilene Christian in part because of 19 turnovers, which occurred on 22% of their possessions.
Coach Kevin Willard’s team prides itself on defense, ranking sixth nationally in defensive efficiency. The Terps’ style of defense, which emphasizes stressing ball handlers and creating turnovers with a full-court press, matches up well against Grand Canyon’s shaky offense.
Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Bennett Conlin at [email protected], 410-332-6200 and x.com/BennettConlin.
NCAA Tournament first round
No. 4 seed Maryland vs. No. 13 seed Grand Canyon
At Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle
Friday, 4:35 p.m.
TV: TBS
Radio: 105.7 FM
