PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball takes their first conference road trip of the season this weekend with a pair of games in south Texas. Before ENMU's Sunday afternoon contest, please take a look at the Starting Five:

1.) Winning Ways: Eastern is off to an excellent start to conference play as they sit with a 2-1 record after beating Oklahoma Christian and Cameron last weekend. A 91-68 result over OC saw four Greyhounds score in double figures – Jaden Clarke (18), Cooper Jackson (17), Mario Whitley (13), and Treyvon Byrd (10). ENMU limited the Eagles to 21-of-58 (36.2%) shooting and forced 18 total turnovers. The tight 76-74 battle with Cameron was won because of hustle plays. The Hounds earned 12 steals and grabbed 21 offensive rebounds in the victory.

2.) Clicking for Cougar: Senior guard Cougar Downing scored a season team-high 28 points in the win over Cameron. Downing shot 10-of-19 from the field, including 6-of-12 from deep range. The Kansas native picked up five rebounds, two assists, and a steal in the matchup. The last time he scored 28 or more points in a single collegiate game was in 2022-23. Downing scored 28+ points three times as a sophomore and three times as a freshman at Barton County Community College. As a freshman he averaged 19.4 points per game and 17 points per game as a sophomore. Downing is currently second on the team with 13.1 points per outing.

3.) Crashing Glass: Eastern New Mexico has combined for 77 rebounds in the last two games. They lead the Lone Star Conference with 42.50 rebounds per contest. Senior Mario Whitley is second in the LSC with 9.3 rebounds per game. Whitley has four games this season with 10+ rebounds. When ENMU wins the rebounding battle, they are 5-1 this season. When they lose the rebounding battle, they are 0-1.

4.) Double Digits: Six different Greyhounds are averaging double digits. Mario Whitley leads the team with 15.3 points per game. Cougar Downing is up to 13.1 points per game after a season-high 28 points versus the Aggies. Treyvon Bryd is posting 12.6 points per contest. Cooper Jackson averages 11.8 points per game. Jaden Clarke also averages 11.8 points per game despite only having one start out of eight games this year. Junior Jose Murillo also averages double figures with 10.4 points per game.

5.) Dusty Dustdevils: Texas A&M International comes into Sunday's game against Eastern New Mexico with a 5-6 (1-2 LSC) record. They went 0-2 last weekend with road losses to UTPB (72-59) and Angelo State (66-53). TAMIU is second in the Lone Star Conference in scoring defense, only allowing 63.1 points per game. Center Duncan Alevok leads the LSC with 12 total blocks. The Dustdevils also rank third in the conference allowing opponents to shoot 28.8% from three-point range. The program is at the bottom of the league in scoring offense (63.6 ppg) and rebounding (29.91 rpg). Two players to watch out for defensively are Elijah Bailey and Esteban Roacho. Bailey has 16 steals this season, while Roacho has 14.