GCU cruises past Benedictine Mesa, as PG Jovan Blacksher Jr., ends 91 starts streak

There was no need for Preseason WAC Player of the Year Jovan Blacksher Jr., to leave his chair during Grand Canyon's predictable 110-53 rout of Benedictine Mesa on Saturday night before a sellout crowd of more than 7,000 at GCU Arena.

Coach Bryce Drew gave his top player the night off, along with guard Josh Baker, to get ready for Tuesday's non-conference game at home against Alcorn State, after Pepperdine had to cancel its trip to Phoenix due to COVID-19 issues. Both players were dressed out and active.

"His body's a little banged up, so we wanted to give him a little extra time since Kansas City (playing two games in less than a 24-hour span earlier in the week)," Drew said of Blacksher.

Drew said that Baker hurt his shoulder in the last game and he wanted to give him extra time to recover.

The Antelopes (5-2) were able to get the local NAIA team to play them as a last-minute replacement and reschedule Pepperdine for Dec. 17.

Here are three takeways from Saturday's blowout as Blacksher's streak of 91 consecutive starts since arriving at GCU his freshman year ended and GCU had its sixth 100-point game in its 10-year NCAA Division I history:

Chance McMillian takes advantage of rare start

McMillian, usually the first guy in off the bench for one of the guards, got the start over Blacksher and he had 17 first-half points. That was a career high and beat his previous career high of 16 in his last game, a win over Northern Iowa.

McMillian made 7 of 10 shots and 3 of 4 3-pointers in the half, as the Antelopes rolled to a 54-24 lead. His back-to-back double figures scoring output is the third time he's done that in his college career.

This was McMillian's fourth career start with the Antelopes.

"I don't mind starting or coming off the bench," McMillian said. "I'm starting to feel a lot more confortable trusting the offense."

More career highs

Guard Walter Ellis, making his first GCU start, came out in the second half, hitting four consecutive 3-pointers. That was the fifth time he has done that in his career. His 12 points matched the most he has scored since coming to GCU last year.

Redshirt freshman Kobe Knox scored a career high 14 points. And reshirt freshman Isaiah Shaw had a career high 11 points.

Getting Harrison back on track

Starting guard Ray Harrison, who struggled from the field in the two-game split in Kansas City in the Hall of Fame Classic, got his game back going in the first half, when he scored 13 points, making 6 of 9 shots. Harrison, an explosive guard, was 2 of 12 shooting in the 12-point Wichita State loss and 2 of 10 shooting in the two-point UNI win. Before that, Harrison made 9 iof 11 shots, 5 of 6 from beyond the arc, scoring 25 points in 19 minutes of a rout of Grambling State.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: GCU rolls past NAIA Benedictine Mesa, as PG Blacksher sits it out