Ray Harrison led a four-pronged scoring effort with 23 points as Grand Canyon earned the first victory over a ranked team in program history, a 79-73 win over No. 25 San Diego State on Tuesday in Phoenix.
The Lopes (7-1) lost their previous nine games against ranked opponents.
San Diego State (7-2) is the first team in the AP Top 25 to visit Grand Canyon since December 2020, when the Lopes lost to No. 23 Arizona State 71-70.
Grand Canyon’s Tyon Grant-Foster had 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. Gabe McGlothan and Collin Moore each had 15 points. McGlothan also had 13 rebounds and Harrison eight.
The Lopes outrebounded the Aztecs 40-32.
Moore had 13 of his points in the second half while Harrison had 12 and Grant-Foster 11.
Jaedon LeDee led San Diego State with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Grand Canyon took a 35-28 lead at halftime after closing the first half on a 9-0 run. Grant-Foster had five points and McGlothan four.
The seven-point halftime margin was Grand Canyon’s largest lead at that point.
San Diego State began the second half outscoring Grand Canyon 8-2 to cut the lead to 37-36 with 17:12 remaining.
Neither team had more than a five-point lead again until Moore made two 3-pointers to put the Lopes ahead 58-52 with 8:38 left.
Grand Canyon increased the lead to 61-54 with 7:10 remaining on Moore’s second-chance dunk.
He sat with 6:31 left and did not return after landing awkwardly on a 3-point attempt. His right ankle rolled when stepping on a defender’s foot when landing.
Grant-Foster’s 3-pointers on consecutive possessions increased the lead to 69-56 with 4:27 left.
Grand Canyon outscored San Diego State 17-4 in that game-turning stretch, with Moore scoring eight points and Grant-Foster six.
LeDee’s jumper in the lane ended a field goal drought of 4:07 as the Aztecs pulled within 69-60 with 3:49 left.
–Field Level Media