NO. 4/No. 1-seed LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (25-2, 12-2)
vs. No. 9-seed ST. EDWARD'S (17-11, 10-7)
Thursday, March 3 – 6 p.m. CT
Comerica Center (Frisco, Texas)
All-Time Series: LCU leads 18-11
 
NEED TO KNOW

• Lubbock Christian and St. Edward's faced off once during the regular season, with the Chaps winning 87-60 at the Rip Griffin Center
• Parker Hicks was named the LSC Defensive Player of the Week for the sixth time this season on Monday
• This will be LCU's second time playing at the Comerica Center (2020)
• St. Edward's enters the weekend having won five straight games, including Tuesday's first-round win over UAFS
• The Chaps have already set a new program record this season with 25 wins, breaking the previous school mark of 24 set by the 1982-83 team

 
AND HERE… WE… GO…
It's the most exciting time of the year for college basketball fans, as March Madness begins with conference tournaments, leading into the NCAA Tournament. The regular season is over, and it's win or go home time. The Chaps are in the driver's seat for this weekend's first step of the postseason, as they head to Frisco, Texas for the Lone Star Conference Championship where they are the No. 1 seed. LCU and the Nos. 2-4 seeds received a first-round bye in the tournament, but the other eight qualifiers already played on Tuesday. LCU's opponent is the No. 9 seed St. Edward's, which upset the No. 8 seed Arkansas-Fort Smith earlier this week.
 
REGULAR SEASON RECAP
The Chaparrals clinched their second-straight Lone Star Conference regular season title and with it the No. 1 seed with a 12-2 league record (.857 win percentage). They finished the regular season 25-2 overall. Lubbock Christian had a tough schedule from the start, facing three tough south central region teams in the first week of the season, but they won all three and ended up winning their first 20 of the season, setting a new program record for best start to a season. The streak finally came to an end on Feb. 5 with a two-point loss to DBU, and the Chaps suffered one more LSC loss to Cameron, but they finished the regular season with three straight wins to head into the postseason on another win streak.
 
LONE-STARS
Six different members of the Lubbock Christian men's basketball team were honored with Lone Star Conference postseason awards, the league announced on Wednesday night. Parker Hicks was recognized as the LSC Player of the Year. He was also named to the All-Academic Team, the All-Defensive Team and the All-LSC First Team. Daniels joined him on the First Team, marking his third-straight season on the team. Aamer Muhammad was named to the All-LSC Third Team, Rowan Mackenzie was an All-LSC Honorable Mention pick, and Aaron Gonzales was named to the All-Freshman Team. Head coach Todd Duncan was also named the LSC Coach of the Year for the second-straight season.
 
HEATIN' UP
In last week's regular-season finale against Western New Mexico, Lubbock Christian tied a program record, hitting 20 three-pointers on the way to a 108-54 win. LCU teams have made 20 just twice before in program history, and both occasions were before Todd Duncan took over as head coach. They were 20-37 from behind the arc (54.1 percent), raising their overall three-point percentage to 40.8, which is the fifth-best mark in all of Division II. The Chaps shot 51.9 percent from the field for the season, and that mark ranks even better at No. 3 nationally. Three LCU players rank in the top-five of the LSC individually in field-goal percentage. Hicks is a 55.8 percent shooter, Daniels 53.2 percent and Muhammad 49.5 percent.
 
THE DEFENSE DOESN'T REST
Opposing teams, however, have faced real problems shooting the ball against the Chaparral defense. LCU opponents are shooting a combined 39 percent from the field this season, which is the third-best field-goal percentage defense nationally. The poor shooting has helped the Chaps hold their opponents to an average of just 62.3 points per game, which ranks No. 5 nationally. Muhammad leads the team in steals with 31 and Hicks has 26 blocks. Hicks also averages 7.85 defensive rebounds per game, which is the 10th-best mark in D-II.
 
GOT MY EYE ON YOU
The watch list for the Bevo Francis award has shrunk to just 50 players, but Hicks made the cut and remains on it. The award was created in 2015 and is named after Clarence "Bevo" Francis. It is presented annually to the top small college basketball player (D-II, D-III, NAIA, NCCAA, USCAA). 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 to 25 players on March 15 and the award winner will be named on April 4.
 
NATIONALLY KNOWN
The Chaps held firm in this week's two D-II Top-25 polls. LCU is No. 4 in the NABC poll, which is voted on by the coaches, with 350 points. In the D2SIDA poll, which is voted on by sports information directors, the Chaps drew 343 points and are ranked No. 4. 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.
 
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS

• St. Edward's advanced to the LSC Championship final site with a road win over No. 8-seed Arkansas-Fort Smith on Tuesday, 68-59
• SEU leads the conference and ranks No. 13 nationally with 782 three-point attempts this year
• The Hilltoppers average 78.2 points per game, which is the fourth-best mark in the conference, but their defense allows 72.1 points a game, which is in the lower half of the league
• Daniel Venzant leads the SEU offense and ranks third in the LSC with an average of 16.9 points per game
• St. Edward's allows 35.8 rebounds per game from their opponents, which is the third-worst mark in the conference

 
THE SERIES WITH THE HILLTOPPERS
Thursday's meeting will be the 30^th all-time in the series between Lubbock Christian and St. Edward's, which LCU leads 18-11. The first meeting came all the way back in 1985 and was a Chap win, 75-64. Both teams have had dominant runs in the series, including six straight wins by SEU from 1990-94 and seven straight by the Chaps from 1995-2014. Things have been more even recently, with LCU holding a slim 5-4 lead in the last nine meetings. The Chaps used a strong second half to win 87-60 over the Hilltoppers in the one regular season meeting between the teams.