PORTALES, N.M. - Lubbock Christian closes out their road trip to New Mexico, heading to Portales to face Eastern New Mexico in a Lone Star Conference West Division rematch.

Lubbock Christian (16-7, 12-5 LSC) at Eastern New Mexico (14-9, 9-8 LSC)
Saturday, Feb. 11 - 4:00 PM 
Portales, N.M. - Greyhound Arena

NEED TO KNOW
- LCU is coming off an 82-81 loss to Western New Mexico on Thursday. The Chaps missed a pair of free throws with 0.9 seconds left that would've tied or given them the lead.
- Rowan Mackenzie scored 23 points and pulled down five rebounds in the game. Mackenzie scored his 1000th career point, and now has 1,012 points for his career.
- Russell Harrison scored 14 points against WNMU. Harrison has scored 2,010 points in his career, playing at Wayland Baptist, Clarendon College, ULM and LCU.
- Despite the loss, Karhan Jones scored a career-high 15 points off the bench for the Chaps. Jones shot 5-for-7 (71.4 percent) from the field and pulled down four rebounds.

FINISH STRONG
LCU has won two-straight Lone Star Conference regular season championships, and have compiled a 54-14 record in the LSC since joining the conference in 2019. The Chaps are 29-8 in Lone Star Conference road games, including a 10-0 road mark during the 2020-21 season. At the Rip Griffin Center, the Chaps are 25-7 in conference matchups. LCU is also 3-2 in overtime conference games since joining the LSC in 2019 after knocking off Oklahoma Christian 70-68 and Cameron 77-74 in OT this season. The Chaps have finished the regular season strong the past three seasons in the LSC, going 21-7 in the month of February.

ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT
This season, Rowan Mackenzie is leading the Chaps in scoring, averaging 19.7 points per game, first in the LSC. That clip would tie Kevin Hewitt (2008-09) for the third highest points per game mark in a season if the regular season ended today. Mackenzie is third in the LSC in field goal percentage, shooting 57.0 percent from the field so far this season.
The junior scored a career-high 35 points against Colorado School of Mines on Nov. 12, draining seven three-pointers, just three shy of tying the school record of most threes made in a single game. For his impressive play against the Orediggers, Mackenzie earned his first career LSC Offensive Player of the Week Honors on Nov. 14, 2022. 
He earned his second LSC Offensive Player of the Week honors on Dec. 20, 2022, after scoring 20 points, hauling in seven rebounds and dishing out five assists against Le Moyne. Mackenzie also had 16 points and four rebounds against no. 4/5 West Liberty.
Mackenzie has gotten it done on the defensive end as well, earning LSC Defensive Player of the Week honors on Jan. 3. Against Cameron, Mackenzie had four steals and had a career-high two blocks against the Aggies, holding CU to just 26.7 percent from three as the Chaps scored 22 points off turnovers. His 1.7 steals per game are tied for third in the LSC.
Mackenzie scored 24 points and hauled down 10 boards against DBU for his third career double-double. The junior also had two assists and a block, and shot 8-for-12 (66.7 percent) from the field. Against Midwestern State, Mackenzie had his second straight double-double, scoring 26 points and hauling down a career best 11 rebounds. The junior also had six assists and two blocks.

GOTTA MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS
Lubbock Christian has been automatic from the free throw line this season, shooting 76.2 percent from the charity stripe. That mark is the fourth-best in the Lone Star Conference, and the 28th best in Division-II. If the Chaps were playing Division-I basketball, that mark would also rank 15th in D-I, above schools such as Miami, Duke, Purdue and Texas Tech.

FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY, STING LIKE A BEE
Najeeb Muhammad has been dishing out assists like hot cakes all season long. Muhammad finished with a career-high eight assists on Dec. 10 against Texas A&M International, just two days after handing out six assists against Texas A&M-Kingsville.  He then tied his season-high with eight assists against Le Moyne. Muhammad set a new season-best in assists with nine against Cameron.
Muhammad has also found his stroke of late, scoring a season- high 21 points in LCU's 91-83 win over no. 4/5 West Liberty, going 10-for-10 from the free throw line. That mark ties Kenny Hewitt for the single-game free throw percentage record. Hewitt went 14-for-14 against Mid-America Nazarene on Feb. 7, 2009. Muhammad also dished out six assists and had three steals against the Hilltoppers. While Muhammad had just four points for the Chaps against Cameron, three of those came in overtime to put LCU up by four with under a minute remaining. He also pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds. 
This season, the Arizona Western College transfer is averaging 9.8 points per game, while his 99 total assists are fourth in the Lone Star Conference. His 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio is tied for the the third-best mark in the LSC.

WOKE UP FEELING DANGER RUSS
Russell Harrison tied his career-high in points from his lone season at Claredon College (2019-2020) with 33 points on Dec. 3 against Arkansas Fort Smith. Harrison was automatic from beyond the mark, making six three-pointers in the game, including four in a row in the second half. The grad transfer finished the night shooting 52.1 percent from the field. Harrison stuffed the stat sheet in that game, pulling in eight rebounds, had two assists, and blocked one shot while coming away with one steal. 
On Saturday, Feb. 4, Harrison flirted with a double-double, scoring 27 points and hauling down nine rebounds against UTPB. The Lubbock native shot 5-for-7 from three in the win over the Falcons. 
Harrison is averaging 15.8 points per game, and 5.0 rebounds per game. Harrison has now scored 1,048 career points at NCAA schools (ULM and LCU), and is just four points away from 2,000 career points.
For his overall career, Harrison has scored 2,010 points, with 395 points in a season at NAIA Wayland Baptist, and 550 points in one season at JUCO Clarendon. Harrison has scored 361 points this season for the Chaps.

MAKE THEM EARN IT
Opponents have struggled to score against the Chaps this season, averaging 66.5 points per game against Lubbock Christian. That mark is sixth in the conference and 33rd in all of Division-II basketball. 
Oklahoma Christian entered the game against Lubbock Christian with the best scoring offense in the LSC at 81.8 points per game, but the Chap defense held the Eagles to a season-low 68 points. Against Arkansas Fort Smith, the Chaps held the conference's leading scorer Payton Brown (22.1 PPG) to 14 points and just 2-for-9 from three. Against West Liberty, the Hilltoppers scored just 83 points, the first time they have been held to under 90 points all season

BUCKETS
LCU is shooting 47.3 percent from the field, the best mark in the Lone Star Conference. The Chaps shot a blistering 58.3 percent from the field earlier this season against Eastern New Mexico, scoring 50 points against the Greyhounds in the second half of the game alone. Just recently against DBU, Lubbock Christian shot 48.1 percent from the floor, including 47.1 percent from the three-point line. The Chaps are shooting 36.4 percent from deep this season, the second- best mark in the Lone Star Conference.

SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS
 - ENMU is 14-9 overall and 9-8 in the Lone Star Conference. The Greyhounds are coming off a 98-87 loss to West Texas A&M, their first home loss of the season.
-  Errol White leads the conference in rebounds per game with 9.1 boards a night. His 210 total rebounds are second in the Lone Star Conference. 
- Jose Murillo is fourth in the conference with 30 blocks, averaging 1.3 blocks per game.
-  The Greyhounds have had trouble holding onto the ball at times, as their 377 total turnovers and 16.4 turnovers per game are second-most in the Lone Star Conference. 
- Brent Owen became the 14th head coach in the history of Eastern New Mexico men's basketball in early May of 2020 and will begin his third season as head coach of the Greyhounds in 2022-23. Owen joined the Greyhounds following a nine-year tenure as an assistant coach at the University of Southern Indiana. In his first full season on the Greyhounds bench, Owen led the Hounds to a 7-17 record, including a win against #24 Oklahoma Baptist, 70-66 (11/27). Owen helped the development of Kentrell Pullian, who would go on to win the Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year honor for the 2021-22 season and land on the LSC All-Freshman team.

THE SERIES WITH THE GREYHOUNDS
LCU leads the overall series with ENMU 21-17, having won five straight and seven of the last eight meetings. The Greyhounds last defeated LCU on Dec. 30, 2017, winning 82-73. During this four game winning streak, the Chaps have won on average by a score of 79-60, winning the last four meetings by at least 18 points. The Chaps won this year's meeting in Lubbock 89-65. LCU scored 30 points off of turnovers and shot 58.3 percent from the field in the game.

LAST TIME OUT
Feb. 9, 2023 - at WNMU - Lubbock Christian had multiple chances at the buzzer to tie or take the lead against Western New Mexico, but ultimately fell short, falling 82-81 to the Mustangs on Thursday, Feb. 9. 
Wegscheider got a look in the lane with four seconds left, missing the shot but Harrison was fouled on the rebound with 0.9 seconds left in the game. Harrison missed both free throws, and the Mustangs rebounded the ball to end the game and hold on for the 82-81 victory. 
Despite the loss, Jones scored a career-high 15 points off the bench for the Chaps. Jones shot 5-for-7 (71.4 percent) from the field and pulled down four rebounds.

A WIN WOULD
- Be the sixth straight for the Chaps against Eastern New Mexico
- Be the third straight win for LCU in Portales

UP NEXT
Lubbock Christian returns home for a pair of cross-division contests, beginning with a game against St. Edward's on Thursday, Feb. 16. Tip-off from the Rip Griffin Center is set for 7:30 PM. Tickets are available at lcuchaps.com