LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (2-3) vs.
OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE STATE (3-4)
Saturday, November 30 – 5 p.m.
 Rip Griffin Center – Lubbock, Texas
 
LAST OF THE NON-CONS
Lubbock Christian began conference play last weekend, travelling to take on Angelo State in San Angelo, but this weekend will feature their last pair of out-of-league games of the season. If it seems early, that's because it is. LCU's final non-conference game of the season last year was on January 4 against Randall. With 22 conference games on the schedule this season, however, the Chaps are playing only five non-conference games this season, completing the slate this weekend. LCU is 1-2 so far this season in out-of-league games, winning only against Randall on November 14 in the Rip Griffin Center.
 
WHERE THE HEART IS
Friday and Saturday's games will be just the second and third home contests of the season for the Chaps, who have a 14-game home schedule this year. The Rip Griffin Center, where LCU plays its home games, was named after B.R. "Rip" Griffin, a former secretary of the LCU Board of Trustees, whose generous donation of $500,000, made possible the $4,200,000, 51,500 square foot facility. Officially dedicated on October 9, 2000, the arena seats 1,950 people for sporting events. The Chaps went 13-1 on their home court last season, and they have not posted a losing record at home since the 2006-07 season.
 
FAIR OR FOUL
Lubbock Christian has committed only 64 fouls this season, which is the 27^th fewest in the nation and the second-fewest among the 18 Lone Star Conference teams. This has led to LCU outscoring opponents 12.5 to 11.8 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 of any Chap his season, thanks in large part to the 17 he took in the November 14 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.
 
FRESH OUT OF THE OVEN
The LCU defense ranks No. 30 in the nation so far this season in forcing turnovers, with an average of 18.25 per game, including a season-high 22 forced in last week's loss against Angelo State. Last season, the Chap defense only forced opponents into an average of 13.4 turnovers per game. Redshirt sophomore Cameron Copley leads the team with 10 steals this season and Thompson is close behind with nine, but another five have recorded steals as well.
 
ABOUT LAST NIGHT…
LUBBOCK, Texas (November 29, 2019) – Lubbock Christian's men's basketball team got back in the win column Friday night, taking down the University of the Southwest 73-55 in the Rip Griffin Center.
 
The Mustangs, although competing at the NAIA level, were a tough test for the Chaps, having already taken down one NCAA Division II opponent earlier this season. USW got on the board first on Friday night, followed by a steal and another score for a quick 4-0 lead. LCU's first point came at the 17:34 mark, as Kobe Thompson got to the line and hit a free throw. Rashaan Proctor followed with back-to-back made jumpers in the paint to get the Chaps their first lead of the night.
 
Lubbock Christian did not hold their lead for long, and neither team was able to create much breathing room during the first 20 minutes of play. The biggest hap lead came at the 9:39 mark, when Parker Hicks hit a three-pointer. LCU and USW were tied again at 17-all and 25-all, but the Chaps closed the half on a 5-0 run, capped off by another Hicks three-pointer, and went into the locker room up six.
 
Playing in just his fifth game with the Chaps, Hicks set a number of new career-highs, including his team-leading 22 points. All but four of those points came from behind the arc, as the Decatur native hit six three-pointers on nine attempts. The six threes made are the most in a single game by a Chap since Isaac Asrat made eight on November 20, 2017. Hicks also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
 
Southwest was again the hotter team to start the second half, scoring seven straight points to regain a one-point lead just over two minutes in. Proctor stopped the run with bucket in the paint and the two teams traded scores for the next two minutes. USW's last lead of the game was at the 16:14 mark, as Tyler Watkins hit a three-pointer to put them up by one.
 
Lubbock Christian followed with a 10-2 run, going up by seven on a three-pointer from Ty Caswell. The three-point shooting was LCU's biggest improvement from the first half to the second. After shooting only 27.8 percent from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes, the Chaps went 5-10 on three-pointers in the second half.
 
The LCU lead was stretched to double-digits for the first time at the 8:59 mark on a layup from Caswell. Southwest mounted one last comeback effort, cutting the deficit to just five points at the 5:32 mark, but Hicks stopped the run with another three-pointer and Thompson got to the line and hit both his free throws, building the lead back out to 10.
 
Zach Stepp had five points in the game's closing minutes, and LCU got buckets from Aamer Muhammad and Cameron Copley to close out the game with a comfortable 18-point win.

SCOUTING THE AGGIES

• OPSU is 3-4 this season and coming off a 124-70 loss at West Texas A&M on Monday night
• Head coach Mark Laird was is in his first season coaching at Oklahoma Panhandle State, having been hired at OPSU in the summer of 2019 after two previous seasons as the head coach at Southwestern Christian
• The Aggies finished 16-14 overall last season and placed eighth in the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 10-12 league record
• OPSU averages 3.43 blocks per game, which is the 21^st most in the NAIA's Division I
• Maurice Waters leads the offense with an average of 12.7 points per game, including a season-high 19 against Southwestern Christian on November 23

 
THE SERIES WITH OPSU
Saturday's meeting will be the 51^st all-time between Lubbock Christian and Oklahoma Panhandle State, with LCU currently leading the series 28-22. The two teams first met in 1974, with LCU winning that contest 84-65. The series has been mostly back and forth. OPSU's longest win streak against LCU was from 1/25/86 to 2/4/88 when the Aggies won seven straight games. Lubbock Christian is currently riding a six-game win streak against OPSU dating back to 12/4/04.