WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Lubbock Christian arrives at D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Saturday afternoon with a seven-game winning streak and a 5-0 record in the Lone Star Conference. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Midwestern State (8-4, 2-4) hopes to snap a three-game skid following a 72-67 loss to No. 4-ranked West Texas A&M on Thursday night.

The Mustangs held No. 4-ranked West Texas A&M 13 points below its scoring average but shot 37.5 percent from the field. The Buffaloes finished 21 of 30 from the free-throw line, and MSU was just 12 of 19 at the foul line.

Pierre Sanders was the leading scorer for the Mustangs with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and dished out six assists. Mason Gibson was 5 of 10 from the field and scored 14 points in the loss.

Gibson is the leading scorer for MSU this season with 15 points per game, and Sanders is the second leading scorer with 14.3 points per game. Sanders is also dishing out 5.7 assists per game, which leads the LSC and is 15th among NCAA Division II players.

Sanders also boasts the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference at 4.0, which is fifth-best in the nation.

Bakari LaStrap is second on the team with 3.5 assists per game, and he is the fourth-leading scorer with 10.3 points per game.

The Mustangs are third in the LSC with 16.1 assists per game as a team.

Will Sanders is shooting 38.1 percent from 3-point range and is scoring 12.3 points per game. Austin Lewis is hitting 41.7 percent of his shots from beyond the arc and is contributing 8.9 points per game for the Mustangs.

Midwestern State is the third-highest scoring team in the LSC and 23rd in the nation with 86.8 points per game. But the Mustangs are allowing 79.5 points per game, which ranks 13th among scoring defenses in the conference.

LaStrap and Sanders both have 21 steals this season, and MSU is forcing the second-most turnovers per game in the LSC with 16.5 per game. Midwestern State is also second in the league and 20th in the nation with 4.8 blocks per game.

Duncan Alevok leads the LSC and is 12th in the nation with 2.33 blocks per game. Alevok has blocked 28 shots in 12 games for the Mustangs, who are second in the league and 20th in the nation with 4.8 blocks per game as a team.

Midwestern State is holding opponents to 41.7 percent shooting from the field, which is the third-best field goal percentage defense in the conference.

The Mustangs were outscored in transition on Thursday night, 9-5, but MSU is second in the nation and leads the LSC with 21.5 fast-break points per game.

The MSU bench is contributing 30.42 points per game, which is second-most in the LSC and 31st among Division II schools.

Reggie Hill leads the Mustangs with 6.8 rebounds per game, and the Mustangs are pulling down 39.7 rebounds as a team — which is third in the LSC — but opponents are grabbing 42.3 rebounds per game. The minus-2.6 rebounding margin is 14th in the league.

Midwestern State leads the all-time series with Lubbock Christian, 29-15, but has lost eight of the last nine meetings, including a 71-61 loss at home last season, when the Chaparrals made their final three shots of the first half and their first five shots of the second half. Lubbock Christian shot 51 percent from the field, hitting 27 of 53 shots in the victory, while MSU was 21 of 61 (34 percent) from the field.

Lubbock Christian (10-3, 5-0) is coming off an 87-73 win at Cameron on Thursday night. The Chaparrals overcame a 12-point first-half deficit by shooting 52.9 percent from the field, including 12 of 20 from 3-point range (60 percent) in the second half.

The Chaparrals shoot 51 percent from the field overall, which leads the conference and is 11th in the nation.

Lubbock Christian leads the conference and is second in the nation with a 3-point shooting percentage of 43.7. The Chaparrals have connected on 149 of their 341 shots from long distance and lead the league with 26.2 attempts per game.

Ethan Duncan is the most prolific 3-point shooter for Lubbock Christian, hitting 46 of 96 shots from beyond the arc. His 47.9 shooting percentage from long range is No. 1 in the LSC and 15th in the nation. Duncan is the second-leading scorer for the Chaparrals with 14.5 points per game.

Tiras Morton is the leading scorer with 16.6 points per game, and he shoots 56.1 percent from the field. Najeeb Muhammad, who shoots 51.4 percent from the field, scores 12.5 points per game, and Aaron Gonzales adds 11.9 points per contest. Gonzales shoots 54.5 percent overall and 50.8 percent (32 of 63) from 3-point distance.

Muhammad is third in the league with 54 total assists and sixth in the conference with 4.2 assists per game.

The Chaparrals are averaging 81.1 points per game and allowing the third-fewest points in the LSC at 67.2 point per game. The 13.9 scoring differential is third-best in the LSC and 19th in the nation.

Lubbock Christian is only grabbing 28.9 rebounds per game, while its opponents pull down 31.9 boards per contest.

Morton is the leading rebounder for the Chaparrals with 8.4 per game, and no one else on the team averages more than five rebounds per game.

Morton, a 6-5 senior forward from Austin, Texas, is seventh in the LSC with 16 total blocks and 1.2 blocks per game. The transfer from Texas A&M International has posted four double-doubles this season.

Midwestern State is on the road next week. The Mustangs travel to Silver City, New Mexico, to face Western New Mexico on Thursday night. Tip-off at Drag's Court is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CST.
 

--MSUMustangs.com--