LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (0-0, 0-0 LSC)
vs. OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN (0-0, 0-0 LSC)
Friday, December 18 – 5:30 PM
Eagle's Nest (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
All-Time Series: OC leads 41-27
 
RUN IT BACK
Last weekend was supposed to open play all around the Lone Star Conference, but that didn't end up being the case for either team involved in this weekend's matchup. Lubbock Christian was unable to take on St. Mary's, and Oklahoma Christian had their meeting with Texas A&M International postponed as well, making Friday's game the season-opener for both teams. LCU is coming off a 2019-20 season that saw them finish 19-10, reaching the LSC Tournament quarterfinals, while OC went 10-17 and saw their season end in the opening round of the LSC Tournament.
 
LATE START
Like nearly everything else this year, basketball season looks different in 2020. When the Chaparrals tip off at 5:30 p.m. Friday night against Oklahoma Christian, it will be the latest start to a season for the men's basketball program since Lubbock Christian transitioned to four-year status. The previous latest start was nearly a month earlier, on November 20, when former head coach Darrell Price began his time at the helm of the men's basketball program in 1975.
 
CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES
The schedule also looks different this season for the Chaps, as the Lone Star Conference and Lubbock Christian do their best to combat the spread of COVID-19. Last year, LCU played 27 regular season games, but this year the schedule only features 22 – 20 of which are Lone Star Conference games. Each team in the LSC is scheduled to play 20 conference games with divisional and crossover competition throughout the year. During weeks in which a team plays a divisional opponent, each institution will have one contest at home and one on the road. When a team faces an opponent from outside its division, both crossover games will be played at the same site on back-to-back days. The conference tournament has also been re-formatted for this season, with the top eight teams based on a point system advancing.  
 
HINDSIGHT
There were a lot of unknowns for the Chaparral basketball program entering the 2019-20 season. LCU had lost its top two scorers off a 21-win, NCAA Regional team, and they were beginning their first season of competition in the Lone Star Conference. The season started with a pair of losses, and they did not get their first win over a Division II opponent until they were a month into the season. But things turned around quickly for the Chaps, and they finished the year at 19-10, losing in the quarterfinals of the LSC Tournament and just missing out on a bid to the South Central Regional. Leading scorer Lloyd Daniels (16.2 ppg) was named to the All-LSC First Team, while forward Parker Hicks and Cameron Copley were named to the All-LSC Second Team. Ty Caswell and Aamer Muhammad were also named to the league's All-Freshman team, with Caswell earning Freshman of the Year honors. The Chaps averaged 77.2 points per game for the year and held opponents to 71.4. They led the LSC in both three-point field-goal percentage (.410) and free throw percentage (79.2).
 
GUESS WHO'S BACK
All but three players from the 2019-20 roster return for this season, giving the Chaps nine experienced players. Daniels, Hicks and Caswell – the top three scorers from last year – are all back, with each player having averaged in double-figures last season. LCU's point guard, Cameron Copley, is also back for his redshirt junior season after averaging 9.5 points per game and ranking second in the conference in assists per game (5.3) last year. Last year's sixth man, Muhammad, is also back after averaging 7.0 points per game last year, along with Zach Stepp and Cade McDowell, who also came off the bench. The other two returners are Rowan Mackenzie and Karhan Jones, who both redshirted last season.
 
FRESH FACES
Five new players have been added for the 2020-21 season, including Zach Barsalou, Jalen Brattain, Gonzalo Corbalan, Camden Grant and Ben Janssan. Janssan is the only upper classmen of the group, transferring from South Puget Sound CC, where the Australia native averaged 17.3 points per game last year. The rest of the newcomers are freshman. Barsalou was a First-Team All-District selection at Dalhart H.S., Grant led his Monterrey H.S. team to its first playoff appearance in more than 20 years, Corbalan was named Mr. New Mexico Basketball as a senior, and Brattain was an All-State selection at Shallowater H.S.
 
AT THE POLLS
Lubbock Christian was picked third in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll, which is voted on by coaches, media and sports information directors from around the league. The Chaps earned 473 points in the poll, behind only West Texas A&M (600) and Angelo State (482). LCU also received 13 points in the National Association of Basketball Coaches National Top 25 poll, but they were not recognized in the D2SIDA national poll.
 
FIVE FACTS ABOUT THE EAGLES

• The 2019-20 season was Oklahoma Christian's first under the leadership of Kendre Talley, who was named the interim head coach on April 5, 2019 and the head men's basketball coach on Jan. 23, 2020. Talley played for OC from 2010 to 2014, earning Sooner Athletic Conference MVP in 2012 and NCCAA All-America Second Team honors in 2014.
• Of the five players who started at least 20 games during the 2019-20 season, only one is back for this year in guard Johnatan Reyes-Valdez. The team's top-two scorers (Dedrian Parmer Jr. and Aubrey Johnson) are both gone, as well as the LSC's leading rebounder, Will Lienhard, who pulled down 10.4 boards per game.
• The Eagles were picked 12^th in the 2020-21 Lone Star Conference preseason poll, which is voted on by coaches, media and sports information directors around the league.
• Oklahoma Christian had the best defense in the Lone Star Conference last season, allowing just 66.3 points per game. They limited opponents to just 41.4 percent shooting and averaged more than four blocks per game.
• Lubbock Christian's leading scorer from a year ago, Lloyd Daniels, and OC junior guard Shem'mario Stephens were teammates at Murray State College during the 2018-19 seasons. Daniels led the Aggies in scoring that year, while Stephens was second.

 
THE SERIES WITH THE EAGLES
Lubbock Christian and Oklahoma Christian have faced off 68 times since 1971, which was the year LCU transition to four-year status. The Chaparrals took an early lead in the series between the teams, winning twice in 1971, but the Eagles quickly took control and lead 41-27 all-time. LCU's best win streak came just a few years ago as they took six straight from 2015 to 2018, but OC has been the winner in each of the last two meetings.