PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico is on the road for two crucial tests against west division foes in the Lone Star Conference this week. Before tip against Midwestern State and Cameron, please read the Starting Five:

1.) Hot Hand: ENMU holds a three-game winning streak going into the weekend. One of those included a nail biting 87-86 result over Texas A&M-Kingsville in south Texas. Last week, ENMU defended home court well with wins over Angelo State (100-79) and UT Permian Basin (95-82). One of the key reasons the team beat the two teams was play from the bench. With the two games combined, Eastern outscored the conference foes, 75-57. Junior Hodnett was one of those players to keep ENMU on the right track as he scored 38 combined points over 45 minutes on the floor.

2.) National Standards: The Greyhounds have proven to be competitive with any team they face. The team has only lost one game by more than one possession. Every other loss has been by three points or less. One indicator for this type of success comes from national statistical rankings. ENMU holds seven different stat categories in the top-10 among 289 programs around the country. Going into Thursday night, Eastern New Mexico holds the highest three-point percentage (44.1%) and the sixth highest assists per game (18.4). Other top marks include 17.7 fastbreak points per game (7^th) and a 50.8% field goal percentage (8^th).

3.) Second Time Around: One major aspect of the Lone Star Conference schedule is the fact divisional teams play each other in a home-and-home. Earlier this season Eastern bested both foes – Midwestern State (108-91) and Cameron (105-84). However, playing on the road is much different regardless the level of basketball. The Mustangs are 8-4 at home this year while the Aggies are 6-4 at home. Against these two teams, Hodnett had an excellent stretch of play as he hit 8-of-14 shots from behind the arc and totaled 38 points off the bench. He comes into this week averaging 10.0 points per game.

4.) Mustang Madness: Midwestern State has a talented team as they do a handful of things quite effectively. First of all, they lead the conference with 39.33 rebounds per game. One of the key glass crashers is Reggie Hill who earns 4.447 defensive rebounds per outing. Another key component for MSU is Pierre Sanders. The true guard holds a 2.78 assist/turnover ratio and has delivered a whopping 100 assists in 2023-24. Lastly, the team swats 4.5 shot attempts per game which allows them more opportunities to earn rebounds. One area of concern is that they allow foes to hit on 35.7% of their shots from behind-the-arc.

5.) Cooling Down Cameron: The Aggies are a sneaky basketball program who can beat anyone day-in-and-day-out. The two best statistical advantages for CU is rebound margin (5.4) and offensive rebounds a game (13.33). They also rely on a key three-point shooter in Jaylan Thomas who hits more than two three's per game. Some areas for concern for Cameron include field goal percentage defense (48.5%), defensive rebounds per game (22.24), and three point percentage defense (40.1%). Since the last time these two teams met, Cameron's rebounds per game average has dropped by 2.0 boards a contest.