NO. 9 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (25-4, 16-3 LSC)
vs. SUL ROSS STATE (5-20, 3-16 LSC)
Saturday, February 28 – 3 p.m.
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
 
TIPOFF
Lubbock Christian University will finish out the 2025-26 regular season on Saturday, hosting Sul Ross State at the Rip Griffin Center with tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m. The Chaps have won 25 games this season, matching their win total from a season ago. It is the most games won in a season by an LCU team since the 2021-22 season, when they won 27, which is the program record for wins in a season. It is the third-straight year for them to reach the 20-win mark and the sixth time under head coach Todd Duncan. The Chaps had only reached the 20-win mark five times prior to his taking over the program.
 
SENIOR SENDOFF
With this being the final home game of the regular season, Lubbock Christian will honor its three graduating seniors prior to the start of the game. The graduating group includes Amondo Miller Jr., Kendall Dow and Alex Anamekwe. Dow is the only one of the three to have spent his entire collegiate career with the Chaps, while Anamekwe transferred from Texas and Miller transferred from Fort Lewis after also playing a year at Colorado. The ceremony will occur just before tipoff.
 
REGIONALLY RECOGNIZED
The first actual NCAA regional rankings were release on Wednesday of this week, with the Chaps in the No. 1 spot. Of the 10 teams ranked, seven are from the Lone Star Conference, with another three from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. LCU has played all but one of the nine other teams in the rankings and is 6-2 against them. After the conference tournament, the top eight teams will advance to the NCAA Tournament. Lubbock Christian has only been the No. 1 seed once at the NCAA Tournament, back in 2022, when they hosted the South Central Regional at the Rip Griffin Center.
 
NATIONALLY KNOWN
Lubbock Christian moved up another spot in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Top-25 poll and is now ranked No. 190. The Chaps have been nationally ranked every week this season, and they are one of just three Lone Star Conference teams in the rankings this week. Eastern New Mexico is at No. 12 after a loss last week and DBU has moved into the rankings at No. 23. St. Edward's and Western New Mexico are the first two teams out in the poll. The Chaps have played seven games this season against ranked opponents and are 5-2 in those contests.
 
SHARP-SHOOTERS
As a team, LCU now shooting 50.7 percent on the season, which ranks seventh in the nation and second in the conference. Lubbock Christian is also ranked sixth nationally in Effective FG%, which 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. Their EFG% so far this season is .580. Pusateri leads the team and is third in the LSC in field goal percentage at .598, and Miller and Lucas Mercandino are all shooting better than 47 percent as well.
 
BEYOND THE ARC
LCU's efficiency extends all the way out past the three-point line, where their 39.8 percent shooting ranks seventh in all of Division II and leads the LSC. Dow leads the team and is second in the league, shooting 42.5 percent from deep and is second in the conference with 2.8 made three-pointers per game. LCU matched a program record with 20 made three-pointers – including 12 in the second half – earlier this season against Fort Lewis. The Chaps have shot better than 50 percent from behind the arc three times this season, including a season-high 64.7 percent on Nov. 2 against Augusta.
 
BOARDING SCHOOL
On Thursday, for just the second time all season, Lubbock Christian had exactly the same amount of rebounds in a game as their opponent. The only previous instance was on Dec. 16 against No. 2 Washburn in a loss. The Chaps have out-rebounded their opponent in 20 of 29 games this season, going 19-1 in those contests. They are averaging 36.6 rebounds per game. More than half of those rebounds come from just two players – Antonio Pusateri and Amondo Miller Jr. Pusateri is sixth in the nation in rebounds per game (11.0) and second nationally in double-doubles (19). He is on pace for 352 rebounds this season, which would be the third-most by a Chap in single-season history. Miller actually out-does him on the defensive glass, and his 7.43 defensive rebounds per game are the seventh-most in Division II.
 
IRON MEN
Three of the top five players in the Lone Star Conference in minutes per game are starters for LCU. Miller leads the team and ranks second in the LSC, averaging 35:42 per game. Dow and Pusateri are not far behind at third and fifth, respectively. Dow has played the full 40 minutes in seven games this season. Only Leo Nordberg (23.6) and Reagan Fielder (10.5) are averaging double-digit minutes off the bench, although Nordberg has moved into the starting lineup since Alex Anamekwe was injured in the game against West Texas A&M and Fiedler has since been injured himself.
 
WHERE THE HEART IS
This will be the 12^th and final home game of the season for the Chaps, who are 10-1 inside the Rip Griffin so far this year. In their 11 home games so far this season, they are averaging 83.2 points per game on 53.7 percent shooting, while limiting opponents to 63.6 points per game on 41.0 percent shooting. In their only home loss against ENMU, the Chaps shot 57.1 percent from the field, which is their highest shooting percentage in a loss since March 16, 2021. Officially dedicated on October 9, 2000, the Rip Griffin Center seats 1,950 fans for sporting events.
 
SCOUTING THE LOBOS

• Sul Ross is in their final year of transitioning from the Division III level to Division II
• The Lobos have the lowest-scoring offense in the Lone Star Conference, averaging just 65.3 points per game
• Lobo guard Camren Roper is fifth in the LSC in assists and third in steals per game at 4.1 and 2.8, respectively
• SRSU has won just five games this season, but that includes Thursday's contest against Midwestern State, which they won 80-64 in Wichita Falls
• Jackson Thoele leads the team in scoring with an average of 15.7 points per game on 43.8 percent shooting

 
THE SERIES WITH THE LOBOS
Lubbock Christian and Sul Ross have faced off early and often on the hardwood. The first meeting between the teams in LCU's four-year institution era was in 1970, and they have faced off 75 times since then. The Chaps lead the all-time series 55-21 and are 24-1 in the last 25 meetings. The last time the Lobos came out victorious was 2001. LCU swept the season series last year, winning both in Lubbock and Alpine.