TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler men's basketball team will take on Eastern New Mexico and #1 Lubbock Christian in a pair of home Lone Star Conference games this weekend.
 
The Patriots enter the weekend 9-2 on the year and 1-1 in Lone Star Conference play having split the two conference games they have competed in against Midwestern State and #11 West Texas A&M. UT Tyler will take on their second nationally-ranked opponent in as many weekends on Saturday afternoon as they are set to welcome undefeated and no. 1 nationally-ranked Lubbock Christian.
 
Thursday's games will serve as "Back to School Night" for the Patriots, with free admission offered to anyone 18 or under and prizes and giveaways taking place throughout the evening. Altra Federal Credit Union will be raffling off four chances to compete in halftime games for both the men's and women's contests throughout the evening.
 
UT Tyler men's basketball will also be offering a free taco courtesy of Fuzzy's Taco Shop to the first 200 fans in attendance of Saturday's game against #1 Lubbock Christian. Each fan's free taco will be available at a designated table set up on the North End of the Herrington Patriot Center.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
UT Tyler battled in their most difficult challenge to date last Saturday, falling by a 79-67 final score to #11 West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas. The Patriots had three individuals score in double digits in Zaire Mateen (11), Eysan Wiley (10) and Soloman Thomas (10) depite the Buffs leading for over 38 minutes of the contest.
 
The Buffs have established themselves behind Lubbock Christian as unarguably a top unit in the LSC this season, and entered this year winners of three straight South Central Region Titles. The Buffs were 75-9 on their home court under head coach Tom Brown, and 11-0 on the year at home prior to Saturday's win over the Patriots.
 
UT Tyler will have a quick turnaround before a chance at another signature win over a nationally-ranked opponent as a 14-0 #1 Lubbock Christian team is scheduled to enter the Herrington Patriot Center on Saturday afternoon. The Patriots earned their first win over a nationally-ranked Division II opponent in program history back on Feb. 24^th of last year in a 61-60 win over then-ranked #10 Texas A&M-Kingsville, a contest which also took place inside the HPC.
 
PATRIOTS IN THE RANKINGS
 
The Patriots also moved down a spot into a tie for the no. 6 spot in the latest edition of the D2SIDA South Central Region poll, and have appeared within the top 10 of the rankings in each of the last six editions of the poll. UT Tyler rose to as high as no. 3 back on Dec. 13^th in the week five edition of the rankings.

Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M both stayed put in the no. 1 and no. 2 spots respectively, while the Lone Star Conference occupied seven of the 10 available spots in the rankings.
 
A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
 
UT Tyler enters this weekend's set of games ranked third in the LSC in scoring offense (80.3 ppg) and fourth in the league in scoring defense (63.5 ppg). The Patriots slid back behind Lubbock Christian into the no. 2 slot in the rankings in both three-point field goal percentage (39.9 percent) and rebounding margin (6.0) after leading the categories last week.
 
Three Patriots average double-digit scoring figures, led by graduate student Micah Fuller, who has scored in double-digits in eight out of his 11 games this season. Fuller averages 12.4 points a game, while Da'Zhon Wyche (11.1) and Eysan Wiley (10.0) rank second and third on the team respectively in scoring.
 
The Patriots rank 13^th nationally with an average of 17.8 turnovers forced per game, and have the second-best scoring margin (16.7) in the LSC this season.
 
Milan Szabo leads UT Tyler with an average of 6.7 rebounds per game, and has scored 10 or more points on five different occasions in 2021-22. Fuller ranks fifth in Division II basketball with a free-throw percentage of 94.6 for the season, having connected on 53 of his 56 attempts for the year.
 
ANOTHER ONE STEPPING INTO THE SPOTLIGHT
 
Looking down the statistical information for the Patriots, it is easy to see that the strength and biggest obstacle to overcome when trying to defend UT Tyler has been the depth and variation in scoring options head coach Louis Wilson and company has imposed. Graduate student Zaire Mateen has been a perfect example of that theory in the two LSC games for the Patriots, having dropped point totals of 16 and 11 in each of those two contests after going six straight games without reaching double-digit scoring figures.
 
Mateen went 6-for-7 from the field against Midwestern State for his 16 points, and 3-for-6 on the afternoon against West Texas A&M. He is a combined 6-of-8 from beyond the three-point line in his last two outings, showing the ability to score at an efficient rate.
 
The Northern Illinois transfer is just the latest in a list of names that have served as elite scorers at different times this season. From early on in the season for Eysan Wiley, to a stretch for Milan Szabo, and now Zaire Mateen, the stretches of quality offensive play in support of consistent scorers such as Micah Fuller and Da'Zhon Wyche has been impressive for the Patriots.
 
SCOUTING AND HISTORY WITH THE GREYHOUNDS

Eastern New Mexico and UT Tyler will do battle for just the second time in each program's history on Thursday night inside the Herrington Patriot Center. The first meeting between the two teams also took place in Tyler back on Feb. 22^nd, 2020. UT Tyler got the better of the Greyhounds in that meeting, a 77-69 victory that saw the Patriots force Eastern New Mexico into 23 turnovers, and hold onto an early lead for the entirety of the contest.
 
The Greyhounds have undergone a host of changes since that inaugural meeting with UT Tyler as head coach Brent Owen enters his second year in charge of the program after taking over last season. Coach Owen and the Greyhounds were not able to compete during the 2020-21 season due to health and safety guidelines in the state of New Mexico, and have worked their way to a 6-6 record thus far in 2021-22.
 
Eastern New Mexico is 2-1 in LSC play, winning each of their last two games entering this weekend over Oklahoma Christian and UAFS. The Greyhounds third LSC game came back on Dec. 31^st, a 72-63 loss at the hands of Texas A&M International.
 
Freshman Kentrell Pullian has been the most consistent scorer for the Greyhounds this season, and is coming off of a weekend in which he went for 20 and 19 in the wins against Oklahoma Christian and UAFS. Adam Hess also averages double-digits for Eastern New Mexico, but hasn't appeared in a game since Dec. 9^th.
 
Defense has been a struggle for the Greyhounds in 2021-22 as they rank last in the LSC in scoring defense at 77.5 points a game. Eastern New Mexico also ranks near the bottom of the league in turnover margin (-2.33), but does shoot the ball relatively effectively with the seventh best field goal percentage (45.3) in the conference.
 
SCOUTING AND HISTORY WITH THE CHAPS
 
Lubbock Christian enters this weekend as one of just five remaining undefeated teams in Division II men's basketball with a record of 14-0, and received 13 of the 16 first-place votes in the latest NABC National Top 25 Poll. The Chaps have taken down three nationally-ranked teams already this season, including a 73-66 win over West Texas A&M back on Nov. 18^th in non-conference play.
 
The Chaps have limited opponents to just 58.4 points per game, third best in all of Division II basketball and tops amongst LSC competitors. Lubbock Christian sits atop the league in multiple statistical categories, including field goal percentage (52.5 percent), three-point field goal percentage (40.2 percent), and assist/turnover ratio (1.72).
 
Parker Hicks, the 2021-22 LSC Preseason Player of the Year, leads the team and sits third in the LSC in scoring with an average of 16.9 points a game. Hicks ranks second in the league in rebounds per game (8.6), and has been named the LSC Defensive Player of the Week on four separate occasions this year.
 
Lloyd Daniels (15.8) and Aamer Muhammed (15.2) have both been elite scorers as well for the Chaps, and have joined Hicks as a potent three-headed monster for the Chaps on the offensive side of the ball.
 
The Chaps have also proven to be among the nation's best defensively, and are led by head coach Todd Duncan in his 11^th season in charge of the program. Duncan and the Chaps have proven to employ as good of a defensive attack as there is in Division II basketball on a year-to-year basis, and have made three trips to the NCAA Division II National Tournament in six seasons of eligibility.
 
UT Tyler and Lubbock Christian have met three times, all three times in Tyler and all three of which times have resulted in a Lubbock Christian win. The two programs met twice last season on Jan. 2^nd and 3^rd, with the Chaps securing 77-62 and 80-64 wins in those contests.