NO. 4 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (23-2, 10-2)
vs. EASTERN NEW MEXICO (6-16, 2-10)
Tuesday, Feb. 22 – 7:30 p.m. CT
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
All-Time Series: LCU leads 34-32
 
NEED TO KNOW

• This is the second-straight game for the Chaps to take on the Greyhounds, but Tuesday night's contest is the one that will count toward the conference standings
• LCU won 76-58 in the matchup between the two teams last Thursday in Portales
• The Chaps are 34-32 all-time against Eastern New Mexico
• The Greyhounds are riding an eight-game losing streak, and they are 0-8 on the road this season
• LCU is ranked in the top five of both D-II top-25 polls
• The Chaps are currently leading the Lone Star Conference with a 10-2 league record, two games ahead of second place Dallas Baptist

 
BACK-TO-BACK
Lubbock Christian will return to action on Tuesday against Eastern New Mexico, hosting the Greyhounds at 7:30 p.m. at the Rip Griffin Center. In an odd quirk of the schedule, this is the Chaps second-straight game against ENMU, after the two teams met in Portales this past Thursday. LCU won the game on the road last week, pulling away with an impressive defensive showing in the second half. Neither team played on Saturday. The back-to-back contests against the same opponents gives the week a similar feel to the 2020-21 season, when the LSC schedule was adjusted so that teams faced the same competition twice in one week, often times on back-to-back days.
 
SEASONAL SUPERLATIVES
If the Chaps win on Tuesday, it will be their 24^th win of the season, which would match the program record for wins in a season by an LCU team competing as a four-year institution. The current record is 24, set by the 1982-83 Chaparral squad. That team was led by Jeff Brush (18.3 ppg), Harold Jones (14.6 ppg) and Tony Jones (6.4 assists/gm), and it included a junior guard by the name of Tim Perrin. There is one other season of Lubbock Christian basketball that features more wins, but the 26-11 team led by Larry Hays in the 1969-70 season was competing at the junior college level.
 
LONE STAR-GAZING
Entering the final week of the regular season, now seems as good a time as ever to check in on the rest of the Lone Star Conference, as school gear up for the league's postseason tournament or see their season come to a close. Seeding for the conference championship will end up coming down to team winning percentage, as not all teams have played the same amount of games. With an .833 winning percentage (10-2) LCU currently occupies the league's top spot, ahead of DBU and its .714 (10-4) win percentage. West Texas A&M and St. Mary's are tied for third with identical .643 (9-5) win percentages. The top 12 teams in the league will qualify for the LSC Championship. The top four seeds will get byes in the first round and automatically advance to the final site at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.
 
THE DEFENSE DOESN'T REST
In Thursday's matchup with ENMU, the Chaps held them to just 58 points, marking the 10^th time this season they have held an opponent under 60 points. 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 63.0 points per game this season, which ranks No. 7 nationally. Aamer Muhammad leads the team in steals with 31 and Parker Hicks has blocked 23 shots to lead the Chaps.
 
SHARP-SHOOTERS
On the other end of the floor, the Chaparral offense has been one of the best at shooting the ball themselves. LCU is shooting 51.4 percent from the floor as a team, a mark that ranks sixth-best among Division II. From behind the arc, they shoot 39.5 percent, and that mark is 11^th-best in the nation. Hicks and Lloyd Daniels rank first and second in the league individually, shooting 54.6 and 53.2 percent from the field, respectively. Muhammad is also in the league's top five with a 49.2 shooting percentage. The Chaps shoot well on the freebies too, ranking No. 2 in the nation at 80.4 percent from the charity stripe.
 
ALWAYS WATCHING
Last week, the pared down watch list for the Bevo Francis Award released and 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.
 
NATIONALLY KNOWN
No new polls have released at the time of writing, meaning the Chaps are ranked in the top five nationally. They are unlikely to drop in this week' poll after winning their only game last week. 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.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
Tuesday's game is the 13^th of 14 total home games for Lubbock Christian. The Chaps are 11-1 on their own court so far this season with an average of 79.5 points per game on 51.7 percent shooting. Opponents entering the Rip have been held to just 60.8 points per game on 39.1 percent shooting. In the 10-plus seasons under head coach Todd Duncan, LCU is 120-28 at home (.809). Officially dedicated on October 9, 2000, the Rip Griffin Center has been the home of the Chaps for more than two decades and can seat 1,950 for sporting events.
 
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS

• With a 2-10 league record, ENMU is currently 16^th out of the 17 LSC teams, making this the final week of their 2021-22 season
• The two Greyhound wins in LSC play came in back-to-back games against Oklahoma Christian and Arkansas-Fort Smith on Jan. 6 and 8
• Kentrell Pullian makes the Greyhounds go, leading the team in points, rebounds, assists and steals
• Five of ENMU's six wins have come on their home court and the other came at a neutral site. They have not won a road game yet in eight chances
• Eastern New Mexico allows an average of 78.9 points per game, which makes them the second-worst defense in all of the Lone Star 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 66 times overall. LCU just recently took the lead in the all-time series, winning a pair of games in 2020 to push in front 34-32. The Chaps have won five of the last six matchups against the Greyhounds, with the only loss coming in 2017.