No. 22 DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY (18-4, 8-3) at LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (10-12, 6-5)
Thursday, February 8 – 7 PM
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
All-Time Series: DBU leads 27-18
Radio: 100.7 FM The Score
TV: Fox 34 News Now

 
HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN
Thursday night's matchup against Dallas Baptist represents a big opportunity for Lubbock Christian University for a couple of reasons. On one hand, the Chaps return to Rip Griffin Center for the first time in a two-week span. LCU is coming off of a four-game road trip in which they split with a 2-2 record. On the other hand, the Chaparrals are playing a No.22 ranked DBU squad, who enters the contest holding the first-place spot in Heartland Conference rankings (8-3). A win over the Patriots would further complicate the logjam of teams in the Heartland Conference standings. LCU enters Thursday's play in fourth place in the standings with a 6-5 conference mark. 

A LOOK AT THEIR LAST GAME
LAREDO, Texas (February 3, 2018) – Saturday afternoon provided a speed bump for Lubbock Christian University's schedule, as the Chaparrals fell on the road to Texas A&M International. The Dustdevils outlasted LCU in a low scoring affair finalized at 49-48. Isaac Asrat(15 points) and Marcos Schuster (12 points) were the lone Lubbock Christian players to register double-figures.
 
Texas A&M International struck first, but both teams combined for 13 points over the first eight minutes of the contest (LCU opened the game 1-of-8 from the field for a second consecutive game). Schuster narrowed TAMIU's lead to a 10-9 margin with a quick cut to the basket and a layup. Kentton Williams stepped up next with a lay-in of his own that also drew a foul from the Dustdevil defense. Williams converted the free throw, putting the Chaparrals up for the first time at 12-10. The lead was short-lived, as Kamari Robinson tucked away a layup for Texas A&M International a minute later to put the Dustdevils up 14-12. The Chaps were outscored 10-4 over the next six minutes, allowing TAMIU to take a nine-point lead at 27-18. Asrat closed out the half for Lubbock Christian with back-to-back three-pointers, helping the Chaps to a 28-27 deficit at the break.
 
Despite heading into the locker room trailing, LCU managed to shoot efficiently throughout the opening period, nabbing a 52.4% field goal average. Williams and Asrat stood out front for the Chaps with seven points each in the half. Williams also pulled down four of Lubbock Christian's 10 rebounds, but the Dustdevils were still able to top the Chaparrals on the glass by a 13-10 margin. LCU's defense held TAMIU to 11 field goals on 23 attempts, while also producing six steals.
 
Lubbock Christian opened up the second period with three straight baskets to step back on top 32-27. TAMIU attempted to cut back into the Chaps lead and even managed to tie the ballgame at 34-34 on a jumper within the paint from Xabier Gomez. LCU responded with six unanswered points to recover their lead. Damon Leach then connected on a free throw tying the game for the fourth and final time at 40-40 with 9:30 to play. Asrat swooped in and put Lubbock Christian back up by four-points with consecutive baskets. Schuster tucked away a free throw capping a three-point play to provide the Chaparrals a four-point cushion with 2:53 remaining. Texas A&M International mounted a late comeback and took their final lead after a triple from Gomez with 2:05 on the clock. After tossing up two attempts in a last-ditch effort to finish on top, the Chaparrals ultimately fell to TAMIU by a final score of 49-48.
 
Scoring column aside, Lubbock Christian finished the day with a 51.3% outing from the field. Of their 22 rebounds, 20 came on the defensive side of the ball. Schuster was one assist shy of tying a career high after dealing out seven of LCU's 11 dimes for the day. TAMIU made the most of LCU's errors scoring 22 points off of 18 Chaparral turnovers.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The Chaparral's loss to the Dustdevils was an extremely low scoring affair that left both squads combining for a total of 97 total points. The last time LCU played a game, where the final score of the combined teams failed to break the triple-digit mark, was a 44-42 loss to Southwest Texas State (Nov. 27, 1982).

COMFORT ZONE
Rip Griffin Center has provided a steady stream of comfort for the Chaparrals this season. For the year, LCU stands 3-9 away from home but 7-3 when playing on their home court. Inside Rip Griffin Center, Lubbock Christian has outscored opponents by a 10.3 scoring margin. In addition to holding their foes to a 38.9% field goal average inside the Rip, the Chaps are also forcing opponents into 14.4 turnovers per contest. Of their seven victories at home, six have come by margins of 14 points or more.

TESTING THE RANKS
Thursday night's matchup against No. 22 Dallas Baptist will likely be LCU's final regular season contest against a ranked foe and will also be their seventh contest against an opponent in the top-25. The Chaps have yet to defeat a ranked squad this season. Their showdown with the Patriots will be their second of the season against a nationally ranked foe inside Rip Griffin Center. The conference home opener against then-No. 7/22 Arkansas Fort Smith saw the Chaparrals falling by a narrow 75-69 result (Dec. 2, 2017).

THURSDAY THEATRICS
Thursday night contests have proved successful for the Chaparrals this season. Of their five Thursday games, LCU has extended themselves to a 4-1 record, but the lone opponent to hand the Chaps their only Thursday night loss is Dallas Baptist in the Heartland opener earlier this season (Nov. 30 , 2017). Since then, Lubbock Christian has contained their opposition to 38.7% shooting from the field and 61.8 points per game in Thursday night matches.

DBU FACTS
- Dallas Baptist currently stands first in the Heartland, 15^th nationally, dealing out 18 assists per contest. They have totaled 396 team assists for the season.
- Aside from a 69-65 hiccup against Arkansas Fort Smith last Saturday, the Patriots have won four out of their last five contests by an 8.4 average margin.
- The DBU squad is putting up 81.6 points per contest this season while holding their opponents to a 69.7 scoring average.
- Boy Van Vliet leads the Patriot unit with 14.4 points per contest on 46.4% shooting from the field and an 80% mark from the free throw line.
- Carter Brown's pressure on the defensive end has resulted in 40 steals this season for the sophomore guard.

RIVALRY AGAINST DBU
Dallas Baptist has stolen the past two meetings between the schools. In most recent matchup, the Patriots downed LCU 88-74 after a strong second-half performance by DBU. Dallas Baptist owns a 27-18 all-time series advantage over Lubbock Christian, dating back to the 1965-1966 season. In that inaugural match, the Patriots cashed in a 95-80 victory over the Chaps. Since LCU head coach Todd Duncan has taken over the program in the 2011-2012 season, the squads have split their meetings at five wins apiece.

PRIOR MEETING WITH DBU
DALLAS, Texas (November 30, 2017) – Lubbock Christian University opened up their Heartland Conference schedule Thursday evening in Dallas, Texas against No. 25 ranked Dallas Baptist University. Isaac Asrat and Kentton Williams led the Chaps with 19 points each, but LCU was unable to top the Patriots and ultimately fell by a final score of 88-74.
 
LCU jumped out to a quick 6-4 lead after a pair of three-pointers by Asrat and Williams to open up the game. The Chaps and the Patriots exchanged baskets for a total of nine lead changes within the opening six minutes of play. Lubbock Christian mounted a 10-2 scoring run that was bookended by three-pointers from Asrat. The run marked the Chaparral's largest lead of the game at 23-15 with 12:52 to play in the opening half. Boy Van Vliet was then able to spark a comeback for DBU with a jumper from inside the paint. The Patriots scored 11 unanswered points over a three-minute period and went into the halftime break with a 48-41 lead over the Chaparrals.
 
Despite going into the break with a deficit, Lubbock Christian was still able to outshoot the Patriots in the half with a 14-for-25 performance (56%) from the field. Asrat knocked down 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, three of which came from beyond the arc. Stephen Lennox pulled down 6 boards, but the Chaps were still on the wrong end of a 14-13 rebounding margin. LCU was also plagued with turnovers, committing nine in the first period alone.
 
Van Vliet proved to be the catalyst for the DBU offense nabbing 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting (45.5%) from the field and a pair of free throws. As a team, Dallas Baptist tallied a 51.4% (19-for-37) field goal average.
 
Chandler Jacobs opened the second period with a layup for the Patriots extending their lead to nine. Once again, Asrat and Williams partnered up for back-to-back LCU buckets to bring the Chaps within four points at 50-46. Patrick Burke scored seven of DBU's next 10 points to widen their lead to 60-48 with 14:56 to play. Lubbock Christian mounted their final comeback attempt that was highlighted by a layup from Williams to pull the Chaparrals within five points with 10:35 on the clock. LCU's efforts were not enough as the Patriots rushed to a 13-point lead following nearly three and a half minutes of scoreless play for the Chaps. DBU's offense proved to be too much and eventually took an 86-66 lead before winding down the clock and downing Lubbock Christian by a final score of 88-74.
 
Williams led Lubbock Christian in the final period with nine points and five rebounds. After opening the game with five triples in the first period, LCU was held to one second half three-pointer and 46.7% (14-of-30) from the floor. Marcos Schuster and Williams combined for 10 of the Chap's 18 rebounds in the half, but Dallas Baptist was able to match their efforts and provide 18 rebounds of their own.
 
For the second consecutive game, Lubbock Christian closed out the night with a 50.9% average from the field on 28-of-55 shooting. Williams' 19 points and eight rebounds marks his best performance of the season. The Patriots capitalized on LCU's mistakes scoring 19 points off of the Chap's season-high 22 turnovers. The Lubbock Christian squad was severely overpowered in the paint as DBU outscored the Chaparrals 48-22 inside the key.