Men's Basketball | 01.12.2022

NO. 1 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (14-0, 2-0)
vs. TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE (10-2, 2-1)
Saturday, Jan. 11 – 7:30 p.m. CT
The Field House (Commerce, Texas)
All-Time Series: TAMUC leads 3-1
 
NEED TO KNOW

• Thursday's meeting will be just the fifth ever between the men's basketball teams of Lubbock Christian and Texas A&M-Commerce
• Chap forward Parker Hicks is four points away from hitting the 1000-point mark for his LCU career
• LCU ranks No. 7 in all of NCAA D-II with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.72
• The 75 total assists by Chaparral guard Lloyd Daniels are the 13th-most by any D-II player
• Texas A&M-Commerce leads the Lone Star Conference in blocked shots with an average of 7.08 per game
• The Chaps are ranked No. 1 in both D-II national polls

 
HEADING EAST
To continue Lone Star Conference play, Lubbock Christian will hit the road for a pair of games on the eastern side of the Lone Star State. They will first travel to Commerce, Texas, where they will take on  the Lions, who have been ranked in the top 25 earlier this season and are 10-2. Then they will head to Tyler to face the 9-2 Patriots. If the Chaps win on both Thursday and Saturday, they will improve to 16-0 and match the best start in program history, which was set during the 2020-21 season. LCU is one of just five teams left out of the 297 in NCAA Division II men's basketball that are still undefeated.
 
IN THEIR DEFENSE
Last week, the Chaps started LSC play 2-0 with wins over Arkansas-Fort Smith and Oklahoma Christian. In the two wins, they held UAFS to its lowest scoring output of the year (51 points) and OC to its second-lowest (56 points). The performance over the weekend was just the latest in a season full of strong defensive performances for LCU, who is limiting opponents to 58.4 points per game this season, which is the third-best mark in D-II. Furthermore, opposing teams are shooting 37.5 percent against the Chaps, which is second best nationally. That includes a 27.8 percent shooting mark on three-pointers. Obviously, the defensive pressure is a team effort, but Hicks has been recognized for his role with four LSC Defensive Player of the Week awards this season, including one earlier this week.
 
SHARP SHOOTERS
Meanwhile, the Chaps have had little problems shooting the ball so far this season. In 10 of their games, they have hit more than 50 percent of their shots. Overall, they are shooting 52.5 percent from the field, which is the third best percentage in the nation. Seven different LCU players are shooting better than 50 percent for the year, including Hicks and Daniels at 56.0 percent and 55.7 percent, respectively. Those two marks rank first and second in the LSC. Freshman Aaron Gonzales is actually the team-leader in field goal percentage at 65.2 percent, but on only 23 attempts.
 
BEYOND THE ARC
Lubbock Christian had its best three-point shooting weekend of the season across the two games against Oklahoma Christian and Arkansas-Fort Smith. They went 21-for-44 from distance across the two games for a 47.7 shooting percentage, well above the season average of 38.9 percent they had heading into the weekend. LCU's overall percentage is now 40.2, which puts them just ahead of UT Tyler (39.9) for the top spot in the LSC. That mark also is good enough to rank No. 13 nationally. Zach Stepp leads the team with a 58.1 percentage from behind the arc (18-31), and four other Chaps are shooting better than 40 percent.
 
BOARD GAMES
Through the first 14 games of the season, Lubbock Christian has out-rebounded all 14 of its opponents. Their rebound margin of 6.2 leads the conference and ranks No. 32 in the nation. Most of that rebounding has been done on the defensive glass, where they have limited opponent second chances with 29.3 defensive rebounds per game. They do, however, rank last in the league with just 6.6 offensive rebounds per game. Hicks leads the team's rebounding effort and ranks second in the conference with 8.6 per game. Daniels, Aamer Muhammad, Rowan Mackenzie and Jalen Brattain are all averaging at least four rebounds a game as well.
 
AT THE POLLS
For the sixth straight week, the Chaparrals are ranked No. 1 in both NCAA Division II national top-25 polls. They drew 395 points and 13 of the 16 first place votes in the NABC coaches poll, ranking ahead of Northwest Missouri State. The Bearcats are also ranked No. 2 in the D2SIDA media poll, behind LCU's 390 points and nine (out of 16) first place votes. Thursday's opponent Texas A&M-Commerce was ranked No. 19 in last week's D2SIDA poll, but dropped out of the rankings this week after a road loss at West Texas A&M.
 
ROAD JOURNAL
Although they have played only three true road games, Lubbock Christian has played six total games away from home so far this year. With neutral site contests included, the Chaps are averaging 76.2 points per game on 54.6 percent shooting away from home. Opponents in those six games are averaging 57.2 points per game on just 37.0 percent shooting. Built in 1950 and formally dedicated on Jan. 4, 1951, the Lions have played their home games at The Field House for over six decades. It will seat 3,055 people for basketball games.
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS

• Five different Texas A&M-Commerce players are currently averaging double figures, including three who score at least 12 points per game
• The Lions average only average 74.4 points per game though, which ranks them 11 out of the 17 LSC teams
• TAMUC is the league-leader in blocked shots per game, and Clashon Gaffney ranks first individually. A transfer from Tarleton State, Gaffney averages 4.0 blocks per game
• The Lions lost last week against No. 7/11 West Texas A&M on the road. Their only loss at home came on Dec. 13 against Seattle Pacific
• Jairus Roberson is TAMUC's leading scorer at 12.5 points per game. He does a lot of his scoring from behind the arc where he ranks fourth in the LSC in both attempts (97) and makes (40)
• This is Texas A&M-Commerce's last season in the Lone Star Conference. They will move up to the NCAA Division I level this summer and join the Southland Conference

 
THE SERIES WITH THE LIONS
Lubbock Christian and Texas A&M-Commerce have only met on the hardwood four times previously, with the Lions winning three of the matchups. The first meeting was all the way back in 1979, but they waited another 35 years to play again. LCU finally got a win in the most recent matchup, which came in 2020 and was also at The Field House. The Chaps trailed at halftime of that game but came back in the second half and won comfortably thanks in large part to 34 points by Lloyd Daniels, a mark that still stands as his career high.