Five Lone Star Conference Men's Basketball teams were undefeated last week, including No. 1 Lubbock Christian which sits atop the league standings after two weeks. No. 11 West Texas A&M, DBU and Eastern New Mexico all picked up a pair of LSC wins, while Angelo State went 1-0 against league competition.
LSC men’s basketball teams are 135-74 overall and 20-12 against the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the other conference in the South Central Region.
LSC schedule and results are available here:
https://lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=mbball
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Larry Wise, West Texas A&M, SO, Health Sciences, G, Waxahachie, Texas, Waxahachie HS
Wise led West Texas A&M to a pair of victories in week two of conference play with wins over Texas A&M-Commerce and UT Tyler. The Waxahachie, Texas product scored a game-high 27 points against the Patriots while matching a season-high eight rebounds and six assists. He averaged 23.0 points per game during the weekend, shooting 50 percent from the field, 35 percent from beyond the arc and 75 percent at the free throw line. He also dished out seven assists (3.5 per game), collected nine rebounds and added one steal.
DEFENSIVE
Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian, SR, Masters of Secondary Education, F, Decatur, Texas, Decatur HS
Hicks anchored LCU's defense limiting another two teams to fewer than 60 points during the week in wins over UAFS and Oklahoma Christian. The senior led the team with 7.0 rebounds per game, with 13 of his 14 boards coming on the defensive glass. He also blocked a pair of shots and notched two steals. Chap opponents were held to 40.2 percent shooting from the field, including just 29.0 percent from beyond the arc, as LCU held UAFS to its lowest scoring output of the season and OC to its second-lowest total.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
N-15 Devaughn Thomas, Angelo State
N-22 Matthew Wilson, UAFS
N-29 Zach Toussaint, West Texas A&M
D-6 Larry Wise, West Texas A&M
D-13 DaJuan Jones, UT Permian Basin
D-21 Lloyd Daniels, Lubbock Christian
J-3 Augustine Ene, Texas A&M-Commerce
J-10 Larry Wise, West Texas A&M (2)
Defensive
N-15 Kavon Booker, West Texas A&M
N-22 Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian
N-29 Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian (2)
D-6 Kavon Booker, West Texas A&M (2)
D-13 Clashon Gaffney, Texas A&M-Commerce
D-21 Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian (3)
J-3 Evan Anderson, UAFS
J-10 Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian (4)
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Aamer Muhammad, Lubbock Christian, led the No. 1 Chaps to wins over UAFS and Oklahoma Christian as they started Lone Star Conference play 2-0 and improved to 14-0 on the season. In both games, he was the team's leading scorer, scoring 16 against the Lions and pouring in 22 against the Eagles. He shot an impressive 58.3 percent from the field for the week, including a scorching 7-10 on three-pointers. Against OC, Muhammad was a perfect 4-4 from behind the arc. The New Mexico native also chipped in five rebounds and five assists across the two games.
Kentrell Pullian, Eastern New Mexico, led the Greyhounds to a perfect 2-0 record on the week against LSC opponents. He had a double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) in a 65-62 overtime win over Oklahoma Christian on Jan. 6. Pullian also had two steals during that contest. On Jan. 8, Pullian contributed a team-high 19 points (8-10 FG, 3-4 3PT) to go with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in a 62-59 come from behind victory over the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.
Carson Tuttle, Texas A&M-Commerce, shot 8-for-13 from the field at No. 7 West Texas A&M for 18 points, with nine points in each half. Tuttle also secured two rebounds and made two three pointers. He is ninth in the LSC with an average of 3.9 assists per game.
Drew Tennial, Oklahoma Christian, averaged 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field as OC fell 65-62 in overtime at Eastern New Mexico on Thursday and 88-56 at No. 1 Lubbock Christian on Saturday. He led the Eagles with 17 points and six rebounds against ENMU, hitting a pair of free throws with 3.6 seconds left to force the overtime period. He followed that with a team-high 19 points and nine rebounds at LCU, narrowly missing a double-double against Division II's top team. Tennial leads OC in both per-game scoring (13.9) and rebounding (6.7) this season.
Mamady Djikine, St. Mary's, became the seventh different Rattler to lead the team in scoring in 2021-22, scoring a team- and game-high 15 points in the win over Midwestern State. He iced the win for the Rattlers, making two free throws in the final nine seconds. Djikine shot over 68 percent from the field in the two games, making 13-of-19 attempts for 15.5 points per game.
Paul Williams, Angelo State, led the Rams scoring 15 points in their win over UT Permian Basin. Williams shot over 70 percent on the night while hitting 3-for-5 from three-point range.
Julian Miranda, DBU, piloted a Patriots offense that went 2-0 against St. Mary's and St. Edward's last week. Against the Rattlers, Miranda notched a season-high 11 assists, the second-most in LSC action this season and third-most in a game in school history, to lead DBU to a season-best 23 assists and a 52.5 shooting percentage. Miranda then poured in a team-high 14 points in DBU's 15 point comeback win over St. Edward's on Saturday. The veteran Patriot finished the week shooting 53% from the field with five rebounds and a pair of steals. Miranda also moved into third place all-time in program history in assists and has recorded 347 assists during his career as a Patriot.
Hayden Blankley, West Texas A&M, led West Texas A&M's defense that limited opponents to 68.0 points per game and 43.3 field goal percentage to lead the Buffs to a 2-0 week. He averaged six rebounds for WT while bringing down seven in the Buffs 79-67 victory over UT Tyler. Blankley totaled 15 points, including three 3-pointers to go along with four assists and one block.
Cameron Kahn, DBU, anchored a DBU defense that conceded just 72 points per game in wins over St. Mary's and St. Edward's last week. Kahn recorded four defensive rebounds and a steal in a lockdown defensive effort that forced 21 points off turnovers and held the Rattlers to 26.9 percent 3-point shooting. Against the Hilltoppers, Kahn notched eight defensive rebounds and 12 points on the opposite end to help DBU improve to 2-1 in conference play.
Clashon Gaffney, Texas A&M-Commerce, has totaled four blocks per game in every conference game thus far this season and leads the nation in total blocks and blocks per game. He also scored six points and grabbed six rebounds to go along with his four blocks on Thursday at West Texas A&M.