Grand Canyon: 2022-23 Western Athletic Men's Basketball Champions

LAS VEGAS — With a chance to break a 20-plus year drought of NCAA Tournament bids, Southern Utah's magic ran out late Friday night in front of a packed house in the desert.

Less than 24 hours after Tevian Jones' miraculous 4-point play capped off a 23-comeback win over in-state rival Utah Valley, there was no such strike for the upstart Thunderbirds in their first season in the Western Athletic Conference, and their first conference tournament title game since winning the 2001 Mid-Continent championship.

SUU trailed by as much as 18 in the second half — a stone's throw behind the 23-point deficit the Thunderbirds overcame a night earlier — but barely got within single digits in the second half in front of a raucous Orleans Arena crowd filled roughly two-thirds by purple-clad Lopes fans.

Ray Harrison had 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Gabe McGlothan scored 21 as Grand Canyon overwhelmed the Thunderbirds 84-66 to claim their second NCAA Tournament berth in program history.

Noah Baumann had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Lopes (24-11).

Jones led Southern Utah (22-10) with 17 points and three rebounds, and Maizen Fusett added 12 points and seven boards. Harrison Butler added 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Thunderbirds.

Grit. Heart. Intensity. The Thunderbirds had plenty of it on Saturday night but fell victim to their Achilles' heel once again: guarding the 3-point line.

Utah Tech's Cam Gooden had a career-high 35 points against SUU in the first round of the WAC Tournament. Then came UVU's Trey Woodbury and the 29 points he scored in that come-from-ahead loss. Harrison, who shot 4-of-6 from 3-point range in the first half, was just the latest in a succession of career shooters.

SUU led for less than six minutes of game time as Grand Canyon dropped in 13 3-pointers and outrebounded the Thunderbirds 41-30.