LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (9-4, 4-1)
at No. 4/13 WEST TEXAS A&M (9-3, 4-2)
Sunday, Jan. 5 – 3 p.m.
First United Bank Center (Canyon, Texas)
 
TIPOFF
Lubbock Christian got an important road win in Lone Star Conference play on Friday as they returned from the holiday break, but the road gets no easier as they meet nationally-ranked West Texas A&M on Sunday. The Buffs, who were picked to win the conference in the league's preseason poll, came up short in their return from the holiday break and will be looking to bounce back from Friday's one-point loss to Midwestern State.
 
RIVALRY ON THE RANGE
The LCU/WT matchup will continue the 2024-25 school year's Rivalry on the Range series. Announced on August 6, 2019, the Rivalry on the Range is a year-long competition including 15 sports in which the two schools will compete against one another. The Rivalry on the Range series scoring components includes head-to-head battles in men's soccer, women's soccer, volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball and softball, with additional points available in postseason play. Fans can review the scoring system at rivalryontherange.com.
 
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. The LSC's leader is ENMU at .572, but after Friday night's LCU win, the Chaps are right behind at .570, the No. 22 mark in the nation. LCU shot 58.3 percent against the Greyhounds, including a scoring 68 percent in the second half, all while limiting ENMU to just 45.8 percent shooting. It was the sixth time this season the Chaps have shot better than 50 percent, with wins in all six games. Sean Murphy leads the team in field-goal percentage, shooting 63.9 percent, which would rank No. 19 nationally and second in the LSC if he meet the minimum of five made field goals per game.
 
BEYOND THE ARC
The Chaps also shot well from deep in Portales, hitting 56 percent of their three-point attempts, including 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) in the second half. 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 48.9 percent shooting ranks 13th nationally and No. 2 in the league.
 
AT THE POLLS
LCU has garnered a bit of national recognition after their 9-4 start to the regular season and is receiving votes in the NABC top-25 poll. LCU was last in the national rankings early in the 2022-23 season, when they were ranked No. 16 in the NABC poll and No. 24 in the D2CSC poll. West Texas A&M comes into Sunday's matchup ranked No. 4 in the D2CSC poll and No. 13 in the NABC poll. The Chaps have faced two teams ranked in the top 10 nationally so far this season and beaten both. The wins came against No. 8 Colorado School of Mines and No. 5 DBU and both were on the road.
 
LOOKING AT THE LONE STAR
The conference standings are quite jumbled this early in the league season. No team has played more than six league games or more than two in-division games. DBU currently leads the East Division at 2-0 and is 5-1 in conference play. UT Permian Basin is also 5-1 and 2-0 in division to lead the west. Friday night's win against ENMU was LCU's first game against a West Division opponent and they are 4-1 in league play overall. Cameron and Sul Ross State are tied at the bottom of the league with identical records of 0-2 in-division and 0-6 in conference play overall. LCU will host the Lobos next week.
 
CHARITY STRIPE
Part of the Chaps' success so far this season has come from their ability to control the foul line, both offensively and defensively. LCU entered the weekend averaging just 14.1 fouls per game, which is the second-fewest in the Lone Star Conference and ranks No. 23 nationally. Conversely, they lead the league in free throw percentage at 73.9 percent. Duncan, Caswell and Najeeb Muhammad are all shooting better than 80 percent at the line this season.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Lubbock Christian has only played five true road games so far this season, going 4-1. The Chaps have averaged 77.2 points per game on 48.2 shooting on the road while opponents have shot 47.1 percent for 71.8  points per game. Duncan is the team's leading scorer on the road with an average of 22.6 points per game on 55.9 percent shooting. Amondo 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 BUFFS
The Chaps and Buffs have met 35 times overall, with WT leading the all-time series 25-10. More than half of those meetings (19) have come since 2014, when LCU moved to the NCAA Division II level. In those contests, the series is much closer, with the Buffs leading 11-8. In the 2024 season, the two teams met in the final two games of the regular season and split, with WT winning in Lubbock and LCU winning in Canyon.
 
SCOUTING THE BUFFS

• WT averages 83.4 points per game, which is the third-most in the conference behind ENMU and DBU
• Ahamed Mohammed leads the team in scoring and ranks third in the LSC with an average of 17.7 points per game
• Only one other Buff – Noah Pagotto – averages double-figures, at 16.1 points per game
• Head Coach Tom Brown is in his 11^th season leading the Buffs, posting an overall record of 277-65
• The Buffs allow 72.2 points per game, which is the fifth-highest mark in the LSC