Men's Basketball | 12.05.2024

LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (6-3, 2-1)
vs. NO. 5 DALLAS BAPTIST (9-1, 1-0)
Friday, Dec. 6 – 7 p.m.
Burg Center (Dallas, Texas)
 
TIPOFF
It's not a rematch, but the Lubbock Christian men's basketball team will take on the Patriots for a third straight game this weekend, this time from Dallas Baptist. DBU enters the weekend as the second-highest nationally ranked Lone Star Conference team at No. 5 in the coaches poll and No. 6 in the media poll. Both teams enter the game riding win streaks – three for the Chaps and eight for the Patriots. LCU's most recent win was a 59-51 victory against UT Tyler in a game which they trailed by 16 at one point. DBU held off a late comeback attempt from Midwestern State to win 77-75 in what was their LSC opener.
 
PROTECT THE ROCK
Through nine games, Lubbock Christian is averaging just 9.3 turnovers per game, which is the second-fewest in the LSC behind Texas A&M-Kingsville's 9.1. Both Aaron Gonzales and Duncan are averaging at least 15 minutes of playing per game with fewer than five turnovers on the year. Muhammad has only turned the ball over 12 times against a team-leading 33 assists. His 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks second in the LSC.
 
BLOCK PARTY
Last Tuesday against UT Dallas, Lubbock Christian set a new season high in blocks with five. They have matched that mark in each of their two games since then. The Chaps only tallied more than five blocks four times during the 2023-24 season. Ty Caswell had a pair in each of the last two games and is now tied for the team lead with Amondo Miller Jr. with six on the year. LCU has 24 total blocks on the year for an average of 2.67 per game. That mark ranks 12^th in the conference.
 
BEYOND THE ARC
The Chaparrals struggled on Wednesday, hitting just eight of their 23 three-point attempts, but are still leading the LSC and ranked No. 4 in the nation with a 44.0 percentage from downtown. The best three-point percentage for the team in the last decade was the 2020-21 season, when they shot 43.8 percent. Jaylen Thompson leads the team with a 54.5 percentage from behind the arc, but does not qualify for the league or national leaderboards without 2.5 made per game. Duncan does qualify and ranks fourth in the LSC at 50.8 percent. He was 5-of-7 on Wednesday.  
 
AWARD CENTRAL
Lubbock Christian senior forward Ty Caswell was named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week, the league announced on Monday afternoon. Caswell was a force on the glass in Lubbock Christian's pair of wins during Thanksgiving Break as they limited UT Dallas and Arlington Baptist to an average of 65.0 points per game on just 44.0 percent shooting. He led the team in rebounding in both games (8, 6) and added in a pair of blocks and three steals. Meanwhile, DBU's Cameron Kahn earned not only LSC Offensive Player of the Week, but NABC and D2SIDA national honors as well. He scored 38 points and pulled down nine offensive rebounds in two games.
 
FAIR OR FOUL
A key component of LCU's win in the defensive struggle on Wednesday was their ability to play without fouling. They committed just nine fouls in the entire game against UT Tyler and limited the Comets to just two free throw attempts. The Chaps rank second in the LSC this season and No. 20 nationally. LCU opponents have attempted 121 free throws this season and are shooting 70.3 percent from the line. Aaron Gonzales is the best at playing without fouling, committing just six total fouls with an average of 15.5 minutes played per game.
 
SHARP-SHOOTERS
Effective field goal percentage is a statistic that adjusts field goal percentage to account for the fact that three-point field goals count for three points, while all other field goals only count for two points. Lubbock Christian leads the LSC and ranks No. 12 nationally in that category at 58.9 percent. They struggled mightily in the first half on Wednesday, but shot 48.15 percent from the field 55 percent  from three in the second half. Their overall field-goal percentage is 49.2 percent, which ranks third in the LSC. Sean Murphy, Caswell, Alex Anamekwe and Jaylen Thompson are all shooting better than 50 percent on the year.
 
CHARITY STRIPE
After struggling in their first two games of the season at the free throw line (.417, .462), Lubbock Christian has bounced back in a big way and now leads the conference with their 75.2 percentage at the line. They have shot better than 80 percent in five games this season, including a season-high 87.5 percent against Regis on Nov. 9. Duncan, Muhammad, Miller Jr. and Caswell are all shooting 80 percent or better from the line.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Lubbock Christian has only played three true road games so far this season, going 2-1. The Chaps have averaged 77.0 points per game on 46.4 shooting on the road while opponents have shot 48.6 percent for 73.7 points per game. Duncan is the team's leading scorer on the road with an average of 22.0 points per game on 55 percent shooting. Miller Jr., Muhammad, and Murphy are all also averaging double-figures in road games. LCU has also played to neutral site games in Canyon, Texas, where they went 1-1.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE PATRIOTS
This will be the 56^th all-time meeting between Dallas Baptist and Lubbock Christian, but only the 54^th with LCU as a four-year institution. The Patriots lead the all-time series 33-20 and have won six out of the last seven meetings. Six of those seven meetings were also decided by single digits and the seventh was a triple-overtime thriller at the Rip Griffin Center in 2019. Last season, the Chaps lost to the No. 4 Patriots 74-71 when Caswell's half-court buzzer beater attempt rattled around the rim and bounced out.
 
SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS

• DBU leads the conference by a large margin in turnovers force with an average of 24.8 per game
• Patriot guard Xavion Brown leads the team and ranks fourth in the conference with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.4
• All 17 players on the Dallas Baptist roster are listed as guards. From the 5-9 Jerrin Canafax to the 6-8 Jackson McCabe, the team does not have a single forward
• Dallas Baptist has been in the NCAA Tournament in six of the last seven seasons, reaching regional semi-finals in both 2021 and 2024
• The Patriots do also turn the ball over quite a bit themselves, ranking fifth in the LSC with 15.1 per game