No. 21 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (20-6, 15-3)
at TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL (12-16, 7-12)
Thursday, February 20 – 7:30 p.m.
Kinesiology & Convocation Center (Laredo, Texas)
 
TIPOFF
Lubbock Christian is on its final full road trip of the regular this season this week, heading to South Texas for a pair of games. The trip starts on the border, where they take on Texas A&M International at 7:30 p.m. in Laredo. LCU enters the contest riding an eight-game win streak dating back to Jan. 23, when they started the streak against Oklahoma Christian. It is the longest win streak for the Chaps since the start of the 2021-22 season, when they won the first 19 games of the season.
 
NATIONALLY KNOWN
Lubbock Christian entered the national top-25 rankings in both polls this week, earning the No. 21 spot in both the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll and in the D2CSC Media poll. Only one other Lone Star Conference team is in the polls, as DBU is ranked No. 4 by D2CSC and No. 5 by the NABC, but Midwestern State is also receiving votes. Lubbock Christian's early-season opponent Colorado School of Mines is also  in the polls at No. 7 in the NABC and No. 10 in the D2CSC. The Chaps have beaten both of those teams this season. 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.
 
AWARD CENTRAL
Lubbock Christian senior guard Najeeb Muhammad was named the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the week, the league announced on Monday. He shot an extremely efficient 62.5 percent from the field and made all 13 of his free throw attempts in the week, averaging 25.5 points per game. He played all 40 minutes against Angelo State, scoring 21 and dishing out five assists. Then on Saturday, he set a new career-high with 30 against UT Permian Basin, going 9-10 from the field, including 5-6 from behind the arc. His five made threes were also a career high. On the defensive end, Muhammad chipped in eight rebounds, two blocks and four steals.
 
REGIONALLY RECOGNIZED
The first NCAA South Central Regional rankings were released on Wednesday and the Chaps are one of the 10 teams under consideration. This first week of rankings are only listed alphabetically. The other LSC teams under consideration include DBU, Eastern New Mexico, Midwestern State, St. Mary's and West Texas A&M. The other teams all hail from the RMAC and include Colorado School of Mines, Fort Lewis, MSU Denver and Regis. Next Wednesday's list will actually be ranked.
 
 
THE DEFENSE DOESN'T REST
Lubbock Christian has limited eight of its last nine opponents to less than 70 points, and three of their last six to less than 60 points. On Saturday, he Chaps limited the Falcons to just 60 points, which is tied for their second-fewest points in a game this season. UTPB shot just 35.1 percent from the field. This season, the Chaps are limiting opponents to 65.5 points per game, which is the second-best mark in the Lone Star Conference. They are just behind Midwestern State, averaging 65.3 points against per game. Chaparral opponents shoot 43 percent, including only 32.8 percent from beyond the arc.
 
CHARITY STRIPE
Against the Falcons, Lubbock Christian got to the free throw line 21 times, making 20 of their attempts. It is their highest single-game free throw percentage in a game with at least 10 attempts since Dec. 30, 2022, when they went 11-11 against Cameron. It is the fourth time this season they have shot at least 90 percent and raised their season percentage to 79.9 percent, which is the No. 6 mark in the nation. Ty Caswell and Ethan Duncan are both shooting better than 90 percent from the charity stripe, but do not have enough attempts to qualify for the national/conference leaderboards. Muhammad does though, and his .867 percentage ranks second in the LSC.  
 
LOOKING AT THE LONE STAR
St. Mary's suffered another loss on Saturday, losing in overtime to Cameron, which means DBU has a 2.5 game lead over both the Rattlers and the Chaps, who are now tied for second (although StMU holds the tie-breaker). LCU has a one-game lead on the West Division over Midwestern State. The Chaps and Mustangs will wrap up the regular season next week with a pair of games against each other.
 
ROAD JOURNAL
LCU is playing their 11^th true road game of the season, boasting a 8-2 record so far. Their two true road losses came at Regis and at Angelo State, but they are also 2-2 in neutral site games. They are averaging 73.6 points per game on the road compared to 81.7 inside the Rip Griffin Center. The biggest difference comes behind the arc, where LCU shoots 42.1 percent at home and only 36.2 percent on the road. Opponents are scoring 65.9 points per game on 42 percent shooting. Duncan is the team's leading scorer in road games with an average of 18.3 points per game on 47.8 percent shooting. Amondo Miller Jr. and Sean Murphy Thompson are also averaging double-figures in road games.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE DUSTDEVILS
Lubbock Christian and Texas A&M International only began meeting when the former moved into the NCAA Division II ranks and joined the Heartland Conference. They have faced off 19 times overall, and LCU leads the series 13-6. The Chaps have won seven of the last eight meetings, including the most recent, which came in the Lone Star Conference Tournament semifinals at the Comerica Center in 2024. LCU has struggled in Laredo over the years though, earning their last win in the Kinesiology & Convocation Building on Feb. 28, 2015. The Chaps won 74-67 behind 26 points from Isaac Cardona.
 
SCOUTING THE DUSTDEVILS

• Anthony Ignowski leads TAMIU in scoring, averaging 12.4 points per game on 46.3 percent shooting
• Texas A&M International averages just 66.3 points per game this season, which is the second-fewest in the Lone Star Conference
• The Dustdevils pull down an average of 30.4 rebounds per game, which is the lowest mark in the league
• TAMIU's Duncan Alevok ranks third in the conference in blocked shots with 30 on the season
• The Dustdevils are much better at home than they are on the road, going 7-6 at the friendly confines and 3-8 away from Laredo