NO. 8 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (27-4, 17-3 LSC)
vs. NO. 12 EASTERN N.M. (25-4, 17-3 LSC)
Saturday, March 7 – 2:30 p.m.
Comerica Center (Frisco, Texas)
 
TIPOFF
It took every bit of the 40 minutes on the court, but Lubbock Christian University came away victorious in the quarterfinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament and will now take on No. 12 Eastern New Mexico at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Comerica Center. The win was the 27^th of the season for the Chaps, matching their program record, which they set in the 2021-22 season. LCU and ENMU finished the regular season tied in the LSC standings with identical 17-3 league records, but the Greyhounds are the No. 2 seed in this weekend's tournament because they had the head-to-head tiebreaker.
 
TOURNEY TIME
This is LCU's seventh straight season in the LSC Championship, which encompasses every year they have been in the league, and this is fifth-straight season to advance to at least the semifinal round. In back-to-back seasons, Lubbock Christian has advanced all the way to the championship game. The Chaps are 9-6 all time in LSC tournament play. If the Chaps win on Saturday, they will advance to the championship game again, taking on the winner of Dallas Baptist and St. Mary's. The last time LCU won a conference postseason tournament was 2001, when they won the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament, which was hosted that year inside the Rip Griffin Center. An 82-70 win against the University of Science and Arts clinched the title.
 
BOARDING SCHOOL
The Chaps returned to familiar territory on Thursday, out-rebounding the Hilltoppers  by seven after being out-rebounded in their regular season finale. The Chaps have out-rebounded their opponent in 21 of 31 games this season, going 20-1 in those contests. They are averaging 36.4 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 (21) after another in the quarterfinal win. He is on pace for 363 rebounds this season, which would be the third-most by a Chap in single-season history.
 
NATIONALLY KNOWN
Lubbock Christian moved up another spot in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Top-25 poll and is now ranked No. 8. 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 both receiving votes in the poll as well. The Chaps have played seven games this season against ranked opponents and are 5-2 in those contests.
 
REGIONALLY RECOGNIZED
The second NCAA regional rankings were release on Wednesday of this week, with the Chaps holding steady 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 two of the nine other teams in the rankings and is 5-2 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.
 
LONE STAR ALL-STARS
There were five Chaparral players honored with Lone Star Conference postseason awards, led by Player of the Year Amondo Miller Jr. and Newcomer of the Year Antonio Pusateri. It is the second-straight season and the four time overall that LCU has had the league's player of the year. Parker Hicks earned the award in 2021 and 2022, and Ethan Duncan claimed it last season. The pair were also both recognized on the All-Conference First Team, and Pusateri also earned a spot on the league's All-Defensive Team. Kendall Dow was named to the All-LSC Second Team, and Lucas Mercandino was named to the All-LSC Third Team.
 
SHARP-SHOOTERS
LCU was out-shot by an opponent for just the fifth time this season against SEU as the Hilltoppers hit 46 percent of their shots to just 44.4 percent for the Chaps. They are now 3-2 in those games. As a team, LCU now shooting 50.5 percent on the season, which ranks sixth in the nation and second in the conference. Lubbock Christian is also ranked seventh 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 .576. Pusateri leads the team and is third in the LSC in field goal percentage at .596, and Miller and Lucas Mercandino are both shooting better than 48 percent as well.
 
BEYOND THE ARC
LCU's efficiency extends all the way out past the three-point line, where their 39.4 percent shooting ranks seventh in all of Division II and leads the LSC. Dow leads the league and ranks 25th nationally, shooting 42.1 percent from deep and is second in the conference with 2.8 made three-pointers per game. He hit five in the quarterfinal game and has made 88 this season. 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.
 
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS

• Eastern New Mexico leads the nation in field goal percentage, hitting on 51.5 percent of their shots this season
• Senior forward Jose Murillo plays a huge part in that stat, leading the LSC and ranking fifth in D-II with a 65.9 individual field goal percentage
• ENMU has won 13 out of their last 14 games, slipping up with just one loss against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Feb. 21
• The Greyhounds do almost all of their damage from inside the arc, ranking second-to-last in the league in three-pointers made with 152
• Senior guard Cooper Jackson had four steals in ENMU's quarterfinal win, giving him 151 in his career, which set the Greyhound program record

 
THE SERIES WITH THE GREYHOUNDS
Lubbock Christian an Eastern New Mexico have been meeting on the hardwood since the former's first season as a four-year institution – all the way back in 1971. In the 75 all-time meetings, LCU holds the slightest of edges, with 38 wins and 37 losses. They have split right down the middle in the last 10 games, but ENMU did win the matchup in the regular season 85-80 in the Rip Griffin Center.