LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (8-4, 3-1)
at EASTERN NEW MEXICO (8-3, 3-2)
Friday, Jan. 3 – 7 p.m. MT / 8 p.m. CT
Steve Loy Family Foundation Arena (Portales, N.M.)
 
TIPOFF
It's been two weeks since the Lubbock Christian men's basketball team was last on the hardwood for a game, but they finally return to action on Friday in Portales, N.M. for a matchup with the Greyhounds. All three meetings between the two schools last season were decided by single-digits and both teams enter this meeting receiving votes in the NCBWA Top-25 poll, so Friday night's matchup in the Land of Enchantment promises to be a good one.
 
LOOKING AT THE LONE STAR
This game also marks a return to conference play, where LCU will stay for the remainder of the regular season. The Chaps and Greyhounds are both in the LSC's West Division. Three teams – West Texas A&M, UT Permian Basin and Western N.M. – are currently tied atop the West Division at 1-0. ENMU is 0-1, and LCU has yet to play an in-division opponent. WT was picked to finish third in the LSC's preseason poll, behind WT and DBU, while ENMU was picked to finish seventh.
 
SHIFTING STARTERS
Through the first 12 games of the season, Lubbock Christian has used five different starting lineups, and the first five on the floor has been different in each of the last three games. Three players have started every single game, including Najeeb Muhammad, Ethan Duncan and Amondo Miller Jr. Five other players have been in the starting lineup at least once, including Jaylen Thompson, who got his first two starts of the year in LCU's most recent two games in Las Vegas.
 
BEYOND THE ARC
The Chaps enter the week ranked No. 4 in the nation and first in the LSC in three-point field goal percentage. They are shooting 41.7 percent as a team, four spots higher than the next-highest LSC team (Midwestern State). 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 47.6 percent shooting ranks 13th nationally and No. 2 in the league.
 
PROTECT THE ROCK
Through 12 games, Lubbock Christian is averaging just 9.6 turnovers per game, which is the fewest in the LSC and is the seventh-fewest nationally. They have committed less than 10 turnovers in eight different games this year, including a season-low five in their most recent game against Montana State-Billings. Najeeb Muhammad has only turned the ball over 13 times against a team-leading 44 assists. He did not turn it over once in the two games in his hometown of Las Vegas. His 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks first in the LSC and No. 16 nationally.
 
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 ranks second in the LSC and ranks No. 24 nationally in that category at 57.0 percent. The Chaps have shot better than 50 percent five times this season and won all five times, including their most recent win against Western Washington. Sean Murphy leads the team in field-goal percentage, shooting 63.5 percent, which would rank No. 21 nationally and second in the LSC if he meet the minimum of five made field goals per game.
 
BOARD MEETING
Lubbock Christian has pulled down 395 rebound this season. Their opponents have also grabbed exactly 395 rebounds on the year, giving them a margin of exactly zero. The Chaps struggled on the glass in their trip to The Entertainment Capital of the World with two of their forwards out. They were out-rebounded by 10 in each of the game, including allowing 19 offensive rebounds in the win against Western Washington. Miller Jr. led the team in boards in both games with eight and 10 and leads the team this season with an average of 5.0 per game.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Lubbock Christian has only played four true road games so far this season, going 3-1. The Chaps have averaged 77.3 points per game on 47.0 shooting on the road while opponents have shot 47.5 percent for 72.0 points per game. Duncan is the team's leading scorer on the road with an average of 21.8 points per game on 52.8 percent shooting. Miller Jr., and Thompson are also averaging double-figures in road games. LCU has also played four neutral site games with a 2-2 record.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE GREYHOUNDS
This will be the 72^nd all-time meeting between Lubbock Christian and Eastern New Mexico. With wins in all three meetings between the teams during the 2023-24 season, the Greyhounds took a 36-35 lead in the all-time series. The Chaps have not beaten ENMU since Jan. 12, 2023, when they won 89-65 behind 21 points from Muhammad. LCU's last win in Portales was Feb. 17, 2022, when Aamer Muhammad scored 21 in a 76-58 Chaparral win.
 
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS

• ENMU broke the program single-game scoring record in its most recent game, scoring 160 against Navajo Tech, a school competing in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association
• The Greyhounds lead the LSC in scoring with an average of 96.0 points per game. If you take out their two contests this year against Navajo Tech, they are averaging 84.7 points per game, which would still tie with WT for the league lead
• ENMU's Jose Murillo is No. 1 in the conference in field-goal percentage, shooting 5.3 percent on 77 attempts
• Head coach Daven Vo is in his first year back at ENMU after serving as the associate head coach for UC-Colorado Springs last season
• The Greyhounds lead the LSC in rebounding with 42.4 per game