NO. 4 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (22-2, 10-2)
vs. EASTERN NEW MEXICO (6-15, 2-10)
Thursday, Feb. 17 – 8:30 p.m. CT
Greyhound Arena (Portales, N.M.)
All-Time Series: LCU leads 33-32
 
NEED TO KNOW

• Lubbock Christian will meet in back-to-back games, first in New Mexico and then in Lubbock
• Thursday's contest will not count toward the conference standings, but next Tuesday's will be an LSC game
• Parker Hicks claimed both LSC Offensive Player of the Week and D2CIDA National Player of the Week honors
• ENMU is 6-15 overall, but they do have a winning record (5-4) on their home court
• LCU ranks No. 3 nationally with a team free throw percentage of 80.2
• The Chaps are ranked in the top five of both D-II polls
• The Greyhounds are riding a seven-game losing streak

 
FINAL STRETCH
The Chaparrals are headed into their final week of the regular season, which will feature three games in the next seven days, with two contests against Eastern New Mexico and one against Western New Mexico. LCU will be looking to bounce back from just its second lost of the season this past Saturday, as they fell in double overtime against Cameron in Lawton, Oklahoma. Lubbock Christian is now 22-2 overall and 10-2 in Lone Star Conference play, holding a slim one-game lead in the league standings over Dallas Baptist, and they will be looking to build momentum over the next week before postseason play begins.
 
HICKS' HUGE WEEK
Lubbock Christian played three games last week, taking on Texas A&M International, West Texas A&M and Cameron. Chap senior forward Parker Hicks was excellent in all of them. His best game came on Tuesday, when he set the new LCU program record with 50 points, including the first 34 Chaparral points of the game. He followed up the performance with 29-point, 11 rebound double-doubles against both the Buffs and the Aggies. The performance earned Hicks not only LSC Offensive Player of the Week, but D2CIDA National Player of the Week honors as well.
 
FIFTY NIFTY
Also releasing this week was the pared down watch list for the Bevo Francis Award, which shrunk to just 50 players, but still included Hicks on it. The award was created in 2015 and is named after Clarence "Bevo" Francis. Francis played two seasons at what is now the University of Rio Grande. In his first season, he led the team to a 39-0 record averaging 50.1 points per game, highlighted by a 116-point performance against Ashland College in Kentucky. The list will shrink more throughout the coming months, with the winner being announced on April 4.
 
THE DEFENSE DOESN'T REST
A big part of the success of Lubbock Christian so far this season has been their relentless defense. The Chaps rank No. 5 nationally in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 39.1 percent shooting overall. They have held 12 opponents this season to lower than 40 percent shooting and out-shot their opponents in all but two games. LCU opponents are scoring just 63.2 points per game this season, which ranks No. 8 nationally. Aamer Muhammad leads the team in steals with 30 and Hicks has blocked 23 shots to lead the Chaps.
 
PROTECT THE ROCK
LCU has also performed well offensively this season, with a 51.6 shooting percentage that ranks No. 6 nationally. The offense runs most efficiently when the Chaps are not turning the ball over, which they have done a good job of this season. LCU averages just 10.1 turnovers per game, which is the eighth-fewest in all of D-II. They also boast an assist to turnover ratio of 1.58, which ranks No. 7 nationally. Lloyd Daniels leads the way for the Chaps in this area, ranking second in the league with 5.0 assists per game. He has an assist to turnover ratio of 2.3.
 
NATIONALLY KNOWN
Lubbock Christian dropped in both national polls again after losing their second game of the season, but the Chaps are ranked in the top five nationally. LCU is No. 4 in the NABC poll, which is voted on by the coaches, with 335 points. In the D2SIDA poll, which is voted on by sports information directors, the Chaps drew 338 points and are ranked No. 5. LCU is not receiving first place votes in any polls at this time, but the Chaps were ranked No. 1 nationally for a two-month span earlier this season. The Chaps have beaten four opponents who were ranked at the time of playing this season.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Thursday's contest is the last on the road for the 2021-22 regular season for the Chaparrals, who on Saturday suffered their first road loss of the season. Not only that, it was their first loss in a true road game since Feb. 27, 2020, when they lost at UT Permian Basin. LCU is 8-1 on the road this season, averaging 77.3 points per game on 50.7 percent shooting. The Chaps are holding opponents to 65.3 points per game on 39.2 percent shooting on their own floors. Eastern New Mexico plays at Greyhound Arena, which was originally built in 1967 and can seat more than 4,800 fans for athletic events.
 
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS

• ENMU has the second-worst defense in the league, allowing an average of 79.0 points per game this season
• Kentrell Pullian leads the Greyhound offense, averaging 11.9 points and 3.2 assists per game
• Head coach Brent Owen is in his second season leading the Eastern New Mexico program
• ENMU averages 69.9 points per game on 42.4 percent shooting, with both marks ranking 13^th in the LSC
• Greyhound opponents shoot 38.3 percent from behind the arc, which is the highest opponent shooting percentage in the conference

 
THE SERIES WITH THE GREYHOUNDS
Lubbock Christian and Eastern New Mexico have been meeting on the hardwood since the former's second season of basketball as a four-year school. The teams have faced off 65 times overall. LCU just recently took the lead in the all-time series, winning a pair of games in 2020 to push in front 33-32. The Chaps have won four of the last five matchups against the Greyhounds, with the only loss coming in 2017.