LUBBOCK, Texas - The Chaparrals look to shake off a tough road trip and get back on track inside of the Rip Griffin Center, facing the LSC East Division leading St. Edward's Hilltoppers on Thursday, Feb. 16. 

St. Edward's (20-7, 14-4 LSC) at Lubbock Christian (16-8, 12-6)
Thursday, Feb. 15 - 7:30 PM
Lubbock, Texas - Rip Griffin Center

NEED TO KNOW
- LCU is coming off a 77-76 loss to Eastern New Mexico on Saturday. The Greyhounds rebounded a missed free throw and scored at the buzzer to win the game.
- Rowan Mackenzie scored 23 points and pulled down six rebounds in the game. Russell Harrison led the team with 24 points and also had seven boards.
- Kurt Wegscheider scored a season-high 18 points and pulled in nine rebounds against Eastern New Mexico
- St. Edward's has won five in a row, and currently sits at first-place in the LSC East Division with a 14-4 conference record and a 20-7 overall mark

FINISH STRONG
LCU has won two-straight Lone Star Conference regular season championships, and have compiled a 54-15 record in the LSC since joining the conference in 2019. The Chaps are 29-9 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 21-8 in the month of February.

ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT
This season, Rowan Mackenzie is leading the Chaps in scoring, averaging 19.8 points per game, second in the LSC. That clip would pass 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 56.7 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 second in the LSC.

LAST SECOND WOES
The last two games have not been kind to the Chaps, falling by one-point in back-to-back contests to Western New Mexico (82-81) and Eastern New Mexico (77-76). It is the first time LCU has lost back-to-back one-possession games since 2016, when Lubbock Christian fell to no. 17 Washburn in Puerto Rico 65-63 on Nov. 26 and then lost to Cameron 65-63 in their next game on Dec. 10. It is also the first time the Chaps have lost back-to-back one-point games since 1974, when LCU lost to New Mexico Highlands 85-84 on Nov. 22, before falling to the College of Sante Fe on Nov. 23 71-70. 

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 scored 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. This season, the Arizona Western College transfer is averaging 9.4 points per game, while his 105 total assists are third in the Lone Star Conference. His 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio is tied for the the fifth-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 16.0 points per game, and 5.1rebounds per game. For his overall career, Harrison has scored 2,034 points, with 395 points in a season at NAIA Wayland Baptist, and 550 points in one season at JUCO Clarendon. Harrison has scored 385 points this season for the Chaps.

MAKE THEM EARN IT
Opponents have struggled to score against the Chaps this season, averaging 66.9 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 47.4 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 36.6 percent from deep this season, the second- best mark in the Lone Star Conference.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
 - St. Edward's is 20-7 overall and first in the LSC East Division with a 14-3 conference record.
-  Sean Elkinton has been lights out for SEU, shooting a conference best 59.5 percent from the field. Elkinton also ranks third in the LSC with 8.0 rebounds per game, and tied for first in the conference in overall rebounds with 217.
- Jeff Gary is first in the conference in free throw percentage, shooting 93.3 percent from the charity stripe. As a team, the Hilltoppers are shooting 81.5 percent from the free throw line, the best in the LSC and the second-best mark in the mark in Division-II.
-  Blake Nielsen is third in the conference in assists with 112 total. His 4.1 assists per game are fourth in the Lone Star Conference.
- Since the 2009-10 season Andre Cook has been at the helm of St. Edward's men's basketball, collecting eight winning seasons in his tenure including a program record 30 wins in 2018-19. The Hilltoppers snagged the Heartland Conference Regular Season title, Heartland Conference Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA Regional Final while being ranked as high as #2 nationally during the season. On Dec. 12, 2021, Cook broke the program record for most coaching wins with 230.  That record-setting season was full of postseason accolades for Coach Cook and the Hilltoppers. Cook was named the 2019 Clarance Gaines Award winner, given by CollegeInsider.com to the Division II National Coach of the Year and NABC District Coach of the Yeara. 

THE SERIES WITH THE HILLTOPPERS
LCU leads the overall series with St. Edward's 12-5, having won two straight. In their last meeting in the 2022 LSC Quarterfinals, Rowan Mackenzie stole an inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left and found Parker Hicks underneath for the game-winning shot in a 58-56 victory. Lubbock Christian won eight of the first nine meetings, but the two teams have split the last eight, going 4-4.

LAST TIME OUT
Feb. 11, 2023 - at ENMU - Despite 65 combined points from Rowan Mackenzie, Russell Harrison and Kurt Wegscheider, a shot at the buzzer gave the Chaps their second-straight one-point loss, falling to Eastern New Mexico 77-76 on Saturday, Feb. 11.
With 56 seconds left, Harrison connected on another triple, and the LCU lead extended to 72-67. Both teams traded makes from the free throw line, before Czerniewicz connected from beyond the arc, and the Hounds trailed 76-74 with five seconds left.
Lubbock Christian went to inbound the ball, but Gonzales' pass to Najeeb Muhammad was off the mark, and Eastern New Mexico got the ball back on their own end. Ealy drove inside the paint, but was fouled by Mackenzie, and went to the line to shoot two free throws with two seconds left. Ealy made the first shot, but missed the second. Luckily for the Greyhounds, Czerniewicz snuck by the LCU bodies and tipped the ball at the last second, draining the buzzer beater and giving Eastern New Mexico the dramatic 77-76 victory. 
Harrison led Lubbock Christian with 24 points, shooting 4-for-6 (66.7 percent) from three and 10-for-15 (66.7 percent) from the field. The Lubbock native also pulled down seven rebounds.

UP NEXT
The Chaps host cross-division foe St. Mary's on Saturday, Feb. 18 for a Homecoming weekend matchup. Tip-off inside of the Rip Griffin Center is set for 3:00 PM. Tickets are available at lcuchaps.com