PORTALES, NM - Eastern New Mexico men's basketball team return to the Greyhound Arena this week as they look to grab another win over UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico. 

LAST WEEK 
The Greyhounds were unable to secure wins in long road trips to Texas A&M-International and Texas A&M-Kingsville this past weekend.  Eastern fell by a final total of 76-71 at the hands of Texas A&M-International in which the Hounds out rebounded the Dustdevils in the second half by a total of 18-to-14 in a game that featured seven lead changes. The Hounds finished shooting 40.9 percent from three-point range as senior Isaiah Murphy and junior Devin Pullum led the Hounds with 20 points each.

The Hounds made the trip over to Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday night following the close loss to the Dustdevils and dropped their fourth straight contest by a final total of 60-54. A closely contest first half that entered the halftime break the score at 29-26 continued into the second half as the scoring differential never reach more than eight until the final minutes.

Isaiah Murphy posted a career high 20 points against Texas A&M-International, going 6-for-11 from the field and 3-for-6 from beyond the three-point line. Murphy also had a season high four assists and six rebounds in that contest Thursday night to provide one of his best efforts as a Hound. Senior Deng Kuany led the Hounds this past weekend with 10 total rebounds between the two games. Kuany now is ranked second on the team in rebounding while junior Yosnier Cobas leads the squad with 89 rebounds this season, an average of 5.2 per contest. Devin Pullum posted double-digit scoring in both games over the weekend and scored 20 or more points for the fifth time this season. Junior Brandon Meadows blocked a career high three shots against Texas A&M-Kingsville. Meadows ranks second on the team with nine blocked shots entering this weekend's games against UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico. 

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION

UT Permian Basin 
Last year UTPB led the Lone Star Conference in a number of offensive categories and averaged a league-best 85.3 points per game. The Falcons were also league-leaders in field goal percentage (49.4), three-point field goal percentage (38.0), and defensive rebounds per game (28.3). The Falcons have rattled off three straight wins over #15 Dallas Baptist, UT Tyler and Texas A&M-Commerce entering this weekend against Eastern New Mexico. UT Permian Basin sits in ninth place in the LSC standings with a record of 7-6 in conference play.

The Falcons are led by transfer guard Pat Dembley, who averages 22.5 points a game and ranks third in the LSC in scoring so far this season. Dembley was particularly effective against the Hounds in the team's first match-up, going for 37 points in the Falcons 100-97 loss.  Senior Miles Washington has recorded 108 total rebounds to lead the way underneath this season, averaging 5.4 a game. Washington has also joined Dembley as an effective scorer, averaging 9.2 points a game and has reached double-digits in eight contests this year. 

Western New Mexico 
The Mustangs broke an eight-game losing streak last Saturday with a 77-60 win on their home court over UT Tyler. Western New Mexico is the lone squad from Division I to sit outside of the top 12 in the LSC standings entering this weekend. Guard Elijah Holifield led the way in the Mustang's win over UT Tyler with 18 points to lead an explosive second half to help Western pull away over the Patriots with 50 second half points. The Mustangs forced 18 turnovers and outrebounded UT Tyler 33-to-23. Western finished the contest shooting 53.6 percent from the field and had four players score double-digits. 

Western New Mexico is ranked fourth in the LSC in team free-throw percentage at 73.1 percent, connecting on 225-for-308 charity shots in 19 games played. The Mustangs are led by Elijah Holifield who is averaging 14.9 points a game totaling 284 points this season. Holified has scored 20 or more points in six contests while recording a career high 31 points at DBU on Jan. 16th. Holified is currently ranked second in the LSC with a three-point percentage of 41.4 for the year.

QUICK HITS

SHERROD STAYS IN TOP FIVE
Junior Garrick Sherrod has proven to be one of the league's best at the free-throw line, ranking in the top five of the Lone Star Conference in the free throw percentage for the second week in a row.  Sherrod is currently shooting 80.4 percent (45-for-56) from the line this season and has made all free throw attempts in five games throughout the 2019-20 season.  Last week Sherrod was limited to just six free throw attempts for the weekend, but went a perfect 10-for-10 from the line inside Greyhound Arena the previous weekend in games against Lubbock Christian and Angelo State.

SHOOTING BEYOND THE ARC 
The Hounds are ranked in the top five in team three-point percentage on both offense (5th) and defense (3rd). Eastern New Mexico shoots 36.4 percent (110-of-302) as a team and limits the opposition to just 31.1 percent (122-of-392) on their three-point attempts. Five Greyhounds are shooting 40 percent or higher from beyond the arc as Brandon Meadows leads the Hounds with a 55.0 percent clip for the year. Meadows has connected on 11-of-20 attempts this season. Following Meadows, is Garrick Sherrod who has connected on 3-of-6 from long range this season. Devin Pullum, Ibn Zaid, and Jose Serrano have all shot better than 40 percent from three-point range this season and have all attempted 30 or more shots from that distance so far this season.

A LOOK AT THE STANDINGS
The Greyhounds sit fourth in their division out of six teams, after wins against UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico in the first half of the season schedule. Eastern New Mexico ranks 11th in the LSC as a whole with a record of 5-7 in conference play this season. With the top 12 teams in the conference standings advancing to the LSC Postseason Tournament, the Hounds season is very much alive despite the four game losing streak. The Greyhounds currently sit one game ahead of St. Mary's, who enters this weekend with a record of 5-8 in LSC. The conference standings are jammed packed with a three-way tie for fifth place between Angelo State, Dallas Baptist and Lubbock Christian with records of 8-4.

LOOKING FORWARD
The Greyhounds will take on four straight in-division rivals beginning this weekend with UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico. Five of the six teams in Division I are currently within the top 12 of the conference standings, the highest of any division in the LSC. Next week the Hounds will hit the road as they travel to Angelo State and Lubbock Christian. In their first matchup, the Hounds put up a strong fight coming back from a halftime deficit but were unable to grab the lead falling 62-60 to Lubbock Christian. After a slow first half against Angelo State, both teams finally got going in the second half. A fired up offense and a tough defense created an exciting game as the Hounds came within four points with seconds on the clock eventually falling 74-70. 

The Greyhounds will tip off against UT Permian Basin this Thursday, Jan 30 at 7:30 p.m. and is the annual Youth Appreciation Day game sponsored by San Juan Village. The Hounds matchup on Saturday, Feb. 1 against Western New Mexico tips off at 4:00 p.m. and is sponsored by Sievers Sports Medicine.