Men's Basketball | 01.14.2022

NO. 1 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (15-0, 3-0)
vs. UT TYLER (10-2, 2-1)
Saturday, Jan. 14 – 4 p.m. CT
Herrington Patriot Center (Tyler, Texas)
All-Time Series: LCU leads 1-0
 
NEED TO KNOW

• Saturday's meeting will be just the fourth ever between Lubbock Christian and UT Tyler
• Chap forward Parker Hicks recorded his seventh double-double of the season on Thursday, which is the 10th-most in the country
• LCU ranks No. 7 in all of NCAA D-II with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.65
• The 79 total assists by Chaparral guard Lloyd Daniels are the 16th-most by any D-II player
• UTT has the second-best scoring offense in the league, averaging 80.3 points per game on 48.7% shooting
• The Chaps are ranked No. 1 in both D-II national polls

 
DON'T STOP ME NOW
If Lubbock Christian can win on Saturday against UT Tyler, it will be their 16^th straight win to start the season, matching the program's best-ever start. The 16-0 start isn't hard to find in the record books, as the Chaps did it just last year. Just four other teams remain undefeated in all of NCAA Division II. According to NCAA.com's Wayne Cavadi, there have only been five undefeated seasons in D-II men's basketball history. The most recent was Northwest Missouri State in 2019, who finished 38-0. Cavadi points out that the remaining opponents on the LCU schedule have a winning percentage of .598, making their road to the sixth undefeated season in D-II history a tough one.
 
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
The Chaparrals have faced off against 13 different D-II opponents so far this season. Of those, seven have set their lowest scoring mark of the year against Lubbock Christian. The trend started with the season's very first game, when LCU held Regis to just 56 points. Since then, the Rangers have not lost, and they are averaging 81.2 points per game for the season. LCU's Thursday night opponent, Texas A&M-Commerce, scored just 59 points, marking the first time this season they have been held to fewer than 60. The Chaps rank No. 2 nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 58.4 points per game, and they rank fourth in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 37.7 percent shooting.
 
BULLSEYE
On the opposite end of the floor, Lubbock Christian has lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 78.1 points per game. Although that mark ranks only sixth in the LSC, just 2.5 points per game separate them and league-leading Angelo State. Plus, LCU is shooting a scorching 52.3 percent from the field, including 37.7 percent from behind the arc. Both of those percentages lead the conference, and their overall field goal percentage is the fifth-best nationally. Daniels and Hicks are both shooting better than 55 percent themselves, ranking first and second in the LSC in that category, respectively.
 
MILESTONES
Thursday night saw a career milestone surpassed for Hicks, who went into the game needing just four points to get to 1000 for his LCU career and ended it with a team-high 21. Hicks is the second LCU player to reach the 1000-point mark this season, joining Daniels, who reached the milestone on Dec. 18 against Western Washington. Senior guard Cameron Copley also recorded the 400^th assist of his career this season, and is now at 410, tying him with Chap Hall of Honor member Tony Jones (1981-83) for third-most in program history. Head coach Todd Duncan is even closing in on a round number with 190 wins as the LCU head coach. He could get to 200 career wins before the end of this season.
 
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. The Chaps have beaten three opponents who were ranked at the time of playing this season. They also beat Regis to start the year, and although the Rangers were not ranked at the time, they are currently No. 15 in the NABC poll.  
 
ROAD JOURNAL
Lubbock Christian has played four true road games this season, winning every one of them. They are averaging 71.8 points per game on 53.8 percent shooting in hostile territory, having beaten Hawaii Pacific, Chaminade, Western N.M. and Texas A&M-Commerce. Opponents on the road are averaging just 50.5 points per game on only 36.6 percent shooting. UT Tyler plays its home games at the Louise Herrington Patriot Center, which can seat up to 2,000 fans.
 
SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS

• UT Tyler leads the Lone Star Conference in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 41.1 percent from behind the arc
• Only two Patriot players average double-figures, but they are very deep, with another eight averaging at least five points per game
• UTT leading scorer (13.7 ppg) Micah Fuller is also the conference leader in free throw percentage, hitting 93.1 percent (54-58) from the charity stripe
• The Patriots' two losses this season have come against Arkansas-Fort Smith and No. 11 West Texas A&M. The UAFS defeat is the only one they have suffered at home this year
• UT Tyler also ranks fourth in the conference in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 62.5 points per game on average

 
THE SERIES WITH THE PATRIOTS
Until the summer of 2019, UT Tyler was a member of the NCAA's Division III, and they never faced off with Lubbock Christian until they moved to D-II and the two schools joined the Lone Star Conference. Thus, the two squads have met only three times prior to this Saturday, with LCU winning all three.