LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (15-7, 12-5)
OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN (10-12, 6-10)
Saturday, February 15 – 4 p.m.
Eagle's Nest – Oklahoma City, Okla.
 
BIRD BATTLE
Lubbock Christian will try and extend its winning streak to three games on Saturday as they travel to the Sooner State to take on long-time rival Oklahoma Christian. Both the Chaps and Eagles played close games on Thursday night. LCU held off a late comeback attempt to take down UAFS 69-67 in Arkansas, while OC took Angelo State to overtime before losing by 10. The Eagles have now lost three of their last four games, with their only win coming at Western New Mexico, 65-63. LCU has won three of its last four contests and six of their last seven, with the only loss coming against No. 3 West Texas A&M.
 
ROAD JOURNAL
Friday's matchup with Oklahoma Christian will be LCU's 10th true road game of the season and their 11^th away from home overall. LCU is 6-3 in true road games so far this year and 6-4 in games away from the Rip Griffin Center. The Chaps have scored just 68.6 points per game across those seven contests while allowing 71.4 points from their opponents. Lubbock Christian also has a pair of impressive second-half comebacks on the road this season. They outscored Texas A&M-Commerce 28-9 over the final nine minutes for a win and scored 13 points in the final two minutes of the win against UT Tyler. Lloyd Daniels and Ty Caswell are both averaging double-figures in road games.
 
CHARITY WORK
Although they have attempted the fewest free throws in the Lone Star Conference (348), Lubbock Christian leads the league and ranks 10th nationally in free throw percentage at 79.6 percent. The Chaps set a new Lone Star Conference record earlier this season when they went 27-27 from the free throw line in the win against No. 4 St. Edward's. Daniels leads the team and ranks No. 2 in the league with an 83.9 free throw percentage (62-75), while another four Chaps have attempted at least 15 free throws and are shooting better than 80 percent on the year.
 
THE TOUGHNESS FACTOR
When it comes to strength of schedule, there are not many schools that have had it worse than Lubbock Christian this season. The Chaps rank No. 35 nationally out of 311 teams in strength of schedule, and they are No. 2 among both Lone Star Conference and South Central Region schools, only behind Eastern New Mexico, who they have beaten twice. Combined, the teams LCU has played against so far have a win percentage of .563. The road should get slightly easier as they move through the back half of the schedule though, as the future opponents have a win percentage of just .402 so far this year. Placing high in strength of schedule is important though, as it is one of the factors looked at when picking teams for the South Central Regional Tournament.
 
DANIELS DOMINANCE
Lubbock Christian junior guard Lloyd Daniels has been on a tear in recent weeks, averaging 21.4 points per game during the last seven games. He has scored at least 20 points in four of the last six games, leading the team in scoring in five of those games. He dropped a career-high 34 points on January 30 at Texas A&M-Commerce. For the season, the New Jersey native is shooting 55.3 percent, which is the second-highest mark in the LSC and ranks No. 49 nationally, while averaging 15.8 points per game. He has scored in double-figures 16 times this season and led the Chaps in points in 11 different games.
 
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, 61.3 percent (46.3 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 15.8 points per game and is shooting .553, which is the second-best mark in the LSC. Hicks is second on the team with 11.5 points per game, while Caswell is also averaging double-figures with 11.2 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 6.2 boards per game. Muhammad has scored in double-figures four times this season, 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. 24 national ranking in turnover margin. LCU forces an average of 15.41 turnovers per game. LCU also leads the Lone Star Conference in fewest turnovers with just 269 this season (12.3 per game), giving them a turnover margin of 3.2. The Chaps have committed 15 or fewer turnovers in 16 games so far this season, going 12-4 in that time. Conversely, they are 2-3 when they turn the ball over more than 15 times.
 
SCOUTING THE EAGLES

• Oklahoma Christian ranks No. 9 nationally in field-goal percentage defense and No. 17 in scoring defense this season, holding opponents to 40.5 percent shooting and 66.1 points per game. Both of those marks are best in the LSC
• Forward Will Lienhard leads that stifling Eagle defense, blocking an average of 2.56 shots per game, which is the eighth best mark in the nation. The Oklahoma State transfer also ranks No. 15 nationally with 9.8 rebounds per game
• It's important for OC to play good defense, because their offense is the worst in the league scoring-wise, averaging just 63.1 points per game
• Forward Dedrian Parmer Jr. is the best Eagle offensive player, averaging 16.1 points per game. He also leads the LSC in minutes per game at 37.20 each contest
• Head coach Keandre Talley was officially named the program's head coach in just a month ago (January 23) after being named the interim head coach in April 2019. He played for the Eagles from 2010 to 2014, leading OC to a Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament title in 2012

 
THE SERIES WITH OC
Lubbock Christian has faced Oklahoma Christian more than any other Lone Star Conference team and maybe more than any other team ever, playing them 67 previous times before Saturday's meeting. LCU won the first two meetings in 1971, but they trail in the all-time series 27-40. The two teams met twice during the 2018-19 season, with OC winning in Oklahoma City and at the Heartland Conference Tournament in Tulsa, while LCU won at home. The Chaps have been winners in seven of the last 10 meetings with the Eagles.