LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (11-5, 6-2)
at UT PERMIAN BASIN (12-3, 8-1)
Thursday, January 16 – 7:30 p.m.
Falcon Dome (Odessa, Texas)
 
TIPOFF
Lubbock Christian has a tough task ahead of them as they look to bounce back from their fifth loss of the season, heading to Odessa to take on the top team in the Lone Star Conference. LCU has bounced back from each of its four prior losses with a win in the following game. The Falcons have just one loss in league play this year, only three overall and are riding a four-game win streak.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Chaps are head back out on the road, where they have gone 5-1 so far this season. Their only true road loss of the year came at Regis on Nov. 9, but they are 2-2 in neutral site games as well. They are averaging 75.7 points per game on the road on 48.5 percent shooting. Opponents are scoring 67.8 points per game on 43.9 percent shooting. Ethan Duncan is the team's leading scorer in road games with an average of 22 point per game on 54.9 percent shooting. Amondo Miller Jr. and Jaylen Thompson are both also averaging double-figures in road games.
 
MEN OF STEAL
In back-to-back games, Lubbock Christian has recorded exactly 10 steals, their season-high for the 2024-25 season. The last time they had more than 10 steals was Feb. 24, 2024, when they had 11 against St. Mary's. They forced 16 turnovers against the Mustangs and 19 against Sul Ross State. This season, LCU opponents have turned it over 206 times, an average of 12.9 per game. LCU's turnover margin of 2.94 is seventh-best in the league. Duncan has the most steals on the team with 21, followed closely by Thompson with 20.
 
BEYOND THE ARC
The Chaps struggled to shoot from deep in the loss to the Mustangs (29.6 percent) but still rank No. 2 in the nation in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 41.9 percent for the year. They average 10.2 made three-pointers per game, which leads the LSC and is 20^th in Division II. Jaylen Thompson and Ty Caswell are shooting better than 50 percent from behind the arc but do not meet the minimum 2.5 made threes per game to be on the conference or national leaderboards. Duncan does though, and his 46.3 percent shooting ranks 10^th nationally and No. 1 in the league. Duncan is also sixth in the country in total three-pointers made with 56.
 
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. 16 in the nation in that stat with a mark of 57.4 percent. Their actual field goal percentage of 48.7 is good enough for 35th nationally and second in the LSC. Sean Murphy leads the team in field-goal percentage, shooting 60.2 percent, which would rank No. 30 nationally and second in the LSC if he met the minimum of five made field goals per game.
 
PROTECT THE ROCK
Despite the loss, Lubbock Christian had only nine turnovers against Wester N.M. and only had seven giveaways against Sul Ross. They average just 9.9 turnovers per game this year, which is the top mark in the conference and No. 12 in Division II. LCU also leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.50. Najeeb Muhammad is the individual leader in the league in that category at 3.5 with 60 assists on the year and only 17 turnovers.
 
CHARITY STRIPE
LCU was 18-for-21 at the free throw line against WNMU, shooting 85.7 percent, which is their third-highest single game mark of the year. The Chaps lead the LSC in free throw shooting with a season average of 75.2 percent. Caswell, Duncan and Muhammad are all shooting better than 80 percent from the free throw line this season, led by Caswell's 93.8 percent mark. UT Permian Basin allows the highest opponent free throw percentage in the LSC this year at 75.4 percent.
 
LOOKING AT THE LONE STAR
The Falcons got two big division wins last week, beating Eastern New Mexico and West Texas A&M at home to improve to 8-1 and keep their half-game lead atop the conference. St. Mary's now sits atop the East Division at 4-0 after a win against DBU. The Rattlers are 6-1 overall in the LSC and riding a four-game win streak like the Falcons. The Patriots, Chaps and Midwestern State all have two losses in conference play before a dropoff to four teams with four losses each.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE FALCONS
Lubbock Christian and UT Permian Basin have met 25 times in program history with LCU leading the all-time series 20-5. All of the meetings have come in the 21^st century, with the first coming in Nov. of 2002. The Chaps have won seven straight matchups against the Falcons. The last UTPB win was on Feb. 27, 2020 when they scored 106 points on 57 percent shooting inside the Falcon Dome.
 
SCOUTING THE FALCONS

• Nine of UTPB's 12 wins this season have come by single-digits
• Alex Matthews leads the Falcons with an average of 16.9 points per game on 50.6 shooting and 7.1 rebounds per game
• Head coach Kyle Tolin is in his second season at the helm of the Falcons with a 29-14 overall record in his time in Odessa
• Opponents shoot 35.6 percent from behind the arc against UTPB, which is the third-highest mark in the LSC
• Four other Falcons are averaging double-figures