LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (12-6, 9-4) at
UT TYLER (6-13, 3-11)
Saturday, February 1 – 4 p.m.
Louise Herrington Patriot Center – Tyler, Texas
 
THREE STRAIGHT
After suffering a loss to No. 4 West Texas A&M in Canyon on November 18, the Lubbock Christian men's basketball team has bounced back in a big way, winning three straight games, including a victory over No. 5 St. Edward's and last night's road win over Texas A&M-Commerce. The Chaps have averaged 87.3 points per game during the win streak while holding opponents to just 79.7 points per game. Junior guard Lloyd Daniels has been a huge part of the win streak, averaging 25.7 points in the three games, including a career-high 34 against the Lions on Thursday. Four other LCU players have also averaged double figures across the three contests.
 
GOODBYE JANUARY
Saturday's game starts a new month for the Chaparrals, but the month of January was pretty good to them. LCU played eight games during the month, starting with a win over Western New Mexico on January 2. The Chaps ended up 6-2 overall on the month with losses against Angelo State and at West Texas A&M. They averaged 78.1 points per game during that eight-game stretch, shooting .427 as a team while limiting opponents to .357 shooting and 73.6 points per game. LCU also shot 78.9 percent from the free throw line, averaged 16.6 assists per game and posted a turnover margin of plus-2.4 during the four-week span.
 
ROAD JOURNAL
Saturday's matchup with Texas A&M-Commerce will be LCU's eighth true road game of the season and their ninth away from home overall. LCU is 4-3 in true road games so far this year and 4-4 in games away from the Rip Griffin Center. The Chaps have scored just 69.0 points per game across those seven contests while allowing 73.4 points from their opponents. Lloyd Daniels and Rashaan Proctor are both averaging double-figures on the road with 16.3 and 10.4 points per game, respectively.
 
CHARITY STRIPE
The Chaps set a new Lone Star Conference record last Saturday, going 27-27 from the free throw line in the upset of No. 5 St. Edward's. The perfect performance broke the previous record of 23-23, which was set by Texas A&I in 1990. It was also the most made free throws without a miss in a NCAA Division II game this season. For the season, LCU is shooting 78.5 percent from the foul line, which leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks No. 17 among all Division II teams. No Chap player has made enough foul shots to factor into the national rankings for free throw percentage (2.5 per game), but Zach Stepp (2-2, 1.000), Aamer Muhammad (19-21, .905), Ty Caswell (26-30, .867), Silas Crisler (16-19, .842) and Cameron Copley (34-41, .829) are all shooting better than 80 percent.
 
AWARD CENTRAL
Lubbock Christian junior guard Lloyd Daniels was named the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday, becoming the first Chap honored with a conference weekly award this season. The New Jersey native shot an incredibly efficient 65.2 percent from the field during LCU's two home wins last weekend, averaging 21.5 points per game. Daniels matched his career-high in the win over the No.5 Hilltoppers with 25 points. For the season, he is shooting 55.4 percent, which is the third-best mark in the LSC, and averaging a team-best 15.2 points per game.
 
BEYOND THE ARC
Although they have attempted the seventh-fewest three-pointers in the Lone Star Conference  this season (407), the Chaparrals lead the league and No. 27 nationally in three-point field goal percentage at 39.8 percent. Caswell leads the team in that mark, hitting an insane 52.5 percent of his three-point attempts (42-80). That mark would lead the nation, but the freshman has only averaged 2.38 made three-pointers per game instead of the requisite 2.5 to factor into the national rankings. Both Daniels (50 percent) and Hicks (41.0percent) would be in the top five in the LSC, but they do not average 2.5 made three-pointers per game either.
 
NEW-LOOK CHAPS
After losing their two leading scorers from a season ago, Lubbock Christian brought in a number of new faces to help the offense reload. So far this season, 59.5 percent (45.4) points per game) of the Chaps' scoring is coming from players who were not on the team a season ago. Lloyd Daniels leads the group of newcomers with a team-high 15.2 points per game and is shooting .554, which is the third-best mark in the LSC. Hicks is second on the team with 11.2 points per game and a team-high 6.46rebounds per game, while Caswell is also averaging double-figures with 11.0 points per game. Muhammad set a new career-high in the win over St. Edward's, scoring 16 points off the bench, and Joshua Davey has contributed as a reserve as well.
 
FRESH OUT OF THE OVEN
The Chaps have been one of the best teams in the conference and in the country at both forcing turnovers and limiting turnovers of their own, leading them to a No. 22 national ranking in turnover margin. LCU forces an average of 16.76, which is the fifth-best mark in their own conference but is still No. 24 nationally. LCU also leads the Lone Star Conference in fewest turnovers with just 225 this season (13.2 per game), giving them a turnover margin of about four. The Chaps have committed 15 or fewer turnovers in 12 games so far this season, going 9-3 in that time. Conversely, they are 2-3 when they turn the ball over more than 15 times, like they did in their most recent loss to West Texas A&M.
 
SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS

• UT Tyler is in its second year of the transition from Division III to Division II and is playing at the Division II level for the first time this season. They previously competed in the American Southwest Conference for 16 seasons
• Head coach Louis Wilson is in his first season leading the team. He was most recently an assistant coach at Grand Canyon University and spent his playing days at William Jewell College
• The Patriots have the fourth-worst offense in the Lone Star Conference with an average of 68.4 points per game. Their defense, however, is seventh-best in the league, allowing just 69.6 points per game
• Guard Ty Glover leads the UTT offense and ranks No. 8 in the LSC in scoring with 16.4 points per game. He shoots 44.4 percent from the field, including 30.5 percent from behind the arc
• The Patriots have the second-best three-point field goal percentage defense in the Lone Star Conference, limiting opponents to 30.8 percent shooting from behind the arc. Only West Texas A&M has a better three-point defense in the league