LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (12-5, 7-2)
at ANGELO STATE (10-6, 6-4)
Saturday, January 18 – 3 p.m.
Junell Center (San Angelo, Texas)
 
TIPOFF
The Chaparral basketball team continues its two-game road swing south of Lubbock on Saturday just three hours down US-87 in San Angelo, Texas, where they will take on the Rams. Both teams are coming off wins Thursday night, with the Chaps taking down UT Permian Basin on the road and the Rams beating Midwestern State. LCU and ASU have a pair of common non-conference opponents this year with opposite results. The Rams played MSU-Billings and Colorado Mesa at the Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas, beating the Yellowjackets before a loss to the Orediggers. LCU has a win over Mines and lost to MSUB.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
LCU is playing their eighth true road game of the season, boasting a 6-1 record so far. Their only true road loss of the year came at Regis on Nov. 9, but they are also 2-2 in neutral site games. They are averaging 76.9 points per game on the road on 48 percent shooting. Opponents are scoring 68.9 points per game on 44.7 percent shooting. Ethan Duncan is the team's leading scorer in road games with an average of 22.1 point per game on 52.4 percent shooting. Amondo Miller Jr., Sean Murphy and Jaylen Thompson are also averaging double-figures in road games.
 
CHARITY STRIPE
A big key to the Chaps' against the Falcons on Thursday was their near-perfect performance at the free throw line. LCU hit 16 of their 17 attempts from the line in the game to shoot 94.1 percent. It is their highest percentage in a single game where they attempted at least 10 free throws since Jan. 18, 2024, when they were 17-for-18 (94.4 percent). For the season, LCU is shooting 76.4 percent on free throws, which is the top mark in the Lone Star Conference. Ty Caswell, Duncan and Muhammad are all shooting better than 80 percent for the season.
 
BEYOND THE ARC
The Chaps did not shoot great on three-pointers on Thursday, but did out-shoot the Falcons 32  to 23.1 percent. They still rank No. 2 in the nation in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 41.3 percent for the year. They average 10.1 made three-pointers per game, which leads the LSC and is 23^rd in Division II. Thompson, Caswell, Duncan and Kendall Dow are all shooting better than 40 percent from behind the arc. Duncan is second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage and is also seventh in the country in total three-pointers made with 58.
 
SETTLING THE SCORE
Lubbock Christian is averaging a scoring margin of plus-11.2 through the first 17 games of the season, which ranks No. 26 in the nation and No. 3 in the LSC. In league games only though, their margin of plus-9.9 is the best in the conference. They are averaging 75.8 points per game in league play and limiting opponents to 65.9 points per game. Their two losses in league play have both come by just five points.
 
PROTECT THE ROCK
The Chaps average just 10.11 turnovers per game this year, which is the top mark in the conference and No. 12 in Division II. They had 12 turnovers on Thursday but kept in the single digits in their last two games. LCU also leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.50. Muhammad is the individual leader in the league in that category at 3.5 with 64 assists on the year and only 19 turnovers.
 
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. 17 in the nation in that stat with a mark of 57.0 percent. Their actual field goal percentage of 48.5 is good enough for 34^th nationally and second in the LSC. Sean Murphy leads the team in field-goal percentage, shooting 60.6 percent, which would rank No. 30 nationally and second in the LSC if he met the minimum of five made field goals per game.
 
LOOKING AT THE LONE STAR
Lubbock Christian had probably the biggest win in the league on Thursday in their takedown of UT Permian Basin, which was sitting atop the conference. With the Falcon loss, it is now St. Mary's who is leading the league at  8-1 (.889). LCU, UTPB and DBU all have two losses behind the Rattlers, although the Chaps have played one fewer league game on the year. The most surprising win, however, came in Portales, N.M., where Sul Ross State got its first LSC win, beating Eastern New Mexico 110-101behind 44 points from Ethan Yancy.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE RAMS
The Chaps and Angelo State have met 35 times on the hardwood as four-year institutions and another eight times when Lubbock Christian was still a junior college. ASU leads the all-time series 31-12 overall or 23-12 in the four-year meetings. LCU has won six of the last seven meetings, including both last season. The Chaps won in the Junell Center last season 75-50, limiting the Rams to 34.8 percent shooting, including 15.4 percent from behind the arc.
 
SCOUTING THE RAMS

• Angelo State has the third-best defense in the LSC, limiting opponents to an average of 65.8 points per game
• Sterling Gaston-Chapman leads the Rams in scoring with an average of 13.3 points per game. The only other Ram averaging double-figures is Carvell Teasett at 11.1 points per game
• Head Coach Vinay Patel is in his third season leading the Angelo State program, posting a 176-119 overall record, including 28-4 inside the Junell Center
• ASU won by four against Midwestern State on Thursday, getting a whopping 80 percent of their 72 points from just three players
• The Rams shoot 69 percent from the free throw line, which ranks 12^th in the LSC