LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (1-2) at
ANGELO STATE (2-0)
Saturday, November 23 - 4 p.m.
Stephens Arena at the Junell Center -San Angelo, Texas
 
NEW ERA
Saturday's matchup with Angelo State is not the first in Lubbock Christian's extensive basketball program history, but it is an important one, as it will be the first meeting between the teams with conference standings on the line. The Chaps are beginning play in an all-new conference this weekend, with the former Heartland Conference having merged with the Lone Star Conference in July of this year. The League, which now features 18 teams, is split up into three six-team divisions. LCU will play at home and away with the other five teams in their division and a single game against the other 12 teams in the conference once. At the end of the regular season, 12 teams will reach the LSC Championship, with seeding determined by overall conference record. The conference schedule will be tough for all teams involved, as six of the eight teams to make the South Central Regional a year ago are now in the Lone Star Conference.
 
EASE ON DOWN
The Chaparrals will be playing their second true road game of the season, having faced only Colorado School of Mines on the road so far this season, ending that game with a 75-47 loss to the then-No. 14 Orediggers. Since Todd Duncan began leading LCU in the 2011-12 season, Lubbock Christian has won a total of 39 road games, but have struggled overall away from home. The only season in the last eight with a winning record away from home was 2013-14, when LCU was 7-4 on the road. Last season, seven of the Chaps' 10 total losses were in true road games, with another two losses at neutral venues.
 
PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS
Through three games, LCU is limiting opponents to an average score of 66.7 points per game, which is tied for the second-lowest mark in the Lone Star Conference (59^th nationally). The Chaps ranked second in the Heartland Conference last year with an average of 69.5 points against. This year, LCU's defense is blocking 1.7 shots per game while limiting opponents to a .405 field-goal percentage and a 36.8 percent mark from behind the arc. Opponents have also been forced into an average of 17 turnovers per game. Cameron Copley and Kobe Thompson are tied for the team lead in steals, while four different LCU players have recorded blocked shots.
 
FAIR OR FOUL
Lubbock Christian has committed only 47 fouls this season, which is the 45^th fewest in the nation and the second-fewest among the 18 Lone Star Conference teams. This has led to LCU outscoring opponents 15.6 to 11.7 from the foul line through the first three games, as the Chaps have the second-best LSC free-throw shooting percentage at .783. Junior Kobe Thompson has taken the most free throw attempts this season, thanks in large part to the 17 he took in last week's win against Randall. The 17 attempts and 13 made foul shots were the most by a Lubbock Christian player since A.J. Luckey went a ridiculous 23-30 from the line against UT Permian Basin on February 1, 2015.
 
DOUBLE-DIGITS
Three different Lubbock Christian players are currently averaging double-figures so far this season, in Kobe Thompson, Lloyd Daniels and Rashaan Proctor. Thompson currently leads the team with 13.7 points per game, which is more than double his 5.4 scoring average as a sophomore. Proctor averaged 9.0 points per game a season ago and has increased that output to 10.0 this year, albeit in just two games played. He led the team with 16 points in the season opener against Regis. Newcomer Daniels is close behind Thompson with 13.3 points per game. As a sophomore last year at Murray State College, the New Jersey native averaged a team-high 18.1 points per game. Freshman Ty Caswell sits just outside of the double-digit mark with eight points per game but did pour in 16 in LCU's most recent game against Randall. 
 
CONFERENCE PLAY
Although this weekend is the beginning of a new era in a new conference, the Chaps have a history of performing well when it comes to league games. The Chaps never had a losing record in Heartland Conference play and have not posted fewer wins than losses in league play at all since the 2009-10 season, when LCU was 8-14 in the Sooner Athletic Conference (12-15 overall). In their six years in the Heartland Conference, LCU posted a record of 71-37 and never finished in the bottom half of the league. In this year's LSC preseason poll, the Chaps were picked to finish seventh.
 
BOARD MAN GETS PAID
Even after losing their leading rebounder from a year ago and all-time LCU rebounding record-holder Brennan Fowler, Lubbock Christian has not seen a significant dropoff in their numbers on the glass. The Chaps are currently averaging 34.7 rebounds per game. Of those 26.3 per game have come on the defensive glass, which ranks as the fourth-most among LSC teams. Thompson and newcomer Parker Hicks are tied for the team lead with 5.7 rebounds per game, but the workload has been spread out with six other Chaps averaging at least 3.0 boards per game.
 
SCOUTING ANGELO STATE

• The school was originally a junior college founded in 1928 as San Angelo College, moving to senior college status in 1965. The Rams were the 1957 National Junior College Athletic Association National Champions
• ASU swept the Lone Star Conference weekly awards this last week, with Collin Turner earning Offensive Player of the Week and Andres Ibarguen winning Defensive Player of the Week
• The Rams went 2-0 to open the season last weekend, beating Sonoma State 82-78 in overtime and San Francisco State 88-68. The two games were apart of the Logsdon Classic
• Angelo State did a good job taking care of the ball through their first two games and ranks No. 23 national with just 10.5 turnovers per game
• Forward Ronald Bell returns to the Rams after leading them in scoring last season. He is averaging 21 points per game so far this year. In 2018-19, Bell was a Second Team All-LSC selection

 
THE SERIES WITH THE RAMS
Lubbock Christian and Angelo State have faced off a total of 26 times since 1970, with the Rams holding a 20-6 advantage all-time. ASU won the first nine meetings between the two teams before LCU finally won 71-61 in 1979. The only back-to-back wins for the Chaps came in 1982 when they beat the Rams 66-58 and 75-62 within about a two-week span during the season. The series has been more even since Duncan took over as the head coach of the Chaps, with the ninth-year LCU coach holding a 2-2 record against ASU. The last meeting between the teams was December 19, 2017, with Angelo State beating Lubbock Christian 83-77 in the Rip Griffin Center. If junior college games between the two teams are counted, Angelo State would have an addition seven wins and a 27-6 all-time advantage.