PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball will play their last home game this Saturday before they go on the road for two consecutive weeks. Before the Greyhounds matchup, please take a look at the Starting Five Preview:
1.) High Scoring: Eastern New Mexico men's basketball lost to Sul Ross State, 110-101, Thursday night at Steve Loy Family Foundation Arena. The Lobos were carried by a school record 44 points from Ethan Yancy. Both teams had five players in double figures scoring. For ENMU, those student-athletes included
Jose Murillo (26 pts),
Mario Whitley (21 pts),
Jaden Clarke (17 pts),
Treyvon Byrd (14 pts), and
Mo Austin (12 pts). Eastern took a lead as large as seven points over the opening six minutes, but a 20-4 run for SRSU gave the visitors the spark to keep the lead the remainder of the game.
2.) Top Shooting Marks: The Greyhounds came into Thursday's game as the best shooting team in the conference and ranking eleventh overall among NCAA DII programs. Their 50.5% mark improved after a night where they connected on a lot of shots from the field. ENMU made 37-of-64 (57.8%) from the floor and carried their offensive output inside the paint. The Hounds outscored the Lobos, 62-36 in the paint. Another strong suit for Eastern New Mexico was their ability to attack the basket quickly. They ended up scoring 31 fast break points on the night – nine points above their season average. ENMU came into the contest ranked fourth nationally in this department.
3.) Experience Matters: The two Greyhound returning starters from 2023-24 for Eastern have made their marks on the 2024-25 roster.
Mario Whitley leads the team in scoring with 14.2 points per game. His teammate,
Jose Murillo, is second on the team, averaging 13.9 points per game. Whitley had his second-best scoring output of the season with 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting. He also earned his seventh double double of the year. Murillo earned 20 or more points for the second time this season with 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting. The Chihuahua, Mexico native blocked two shots in the contest and has added 3.5 points per game to his scoring average over the last six weeks. In that time span, he has scored 14+ points in seven of the last eight contests.
4.) Watch for Three: The deep shot was a major difference maker in Thursday's loss to Sul Ross State. Eastern New Mexico hit zero three's in the first half, while SRSU already had seven going into the intermission. In total, ENMU finished with three made three's with all of them coming in the final 90 seconds of the game. The Lobos finished with 12 total shots from deep. On average, ENMU hits 5.9 three's per game. Eastern's next opponent, Western New Mexico, makes 5.1 three's per contest, but in their last two contests they have combined for 14 made three pointers. Four players for WNMU have ten or more made three's this season.
5.) Notes on the Mustangs: Western New Mexico is second in the conference as they make 72.7% of their shots from free throw range. The top shooter from the charity stripe for the Mustangs is Carson Kelly who is first in the LSC with a 87.7% clip. Kelly also leads the team playing 33:57 minutes per matchup. WNMU has gotten a major boost from a midyear addition. Matthew Okoye earned eligibility to compete in mid-December and has been a breakthrough player for the program. Okoye is averaging 16.3 points per game over seven starts. He is a familiar name for the Lone Star Conference as he played for Texas A&M International previously. During the 2023-24 season, he led the Dustdevils with 12.7 points per game and helped the program advance to the quarterfinals of the 2024 Lone Star Conference tournament. In 2022-23, he appeared in 20 contests for TAMIU and scored 4.9 points per outing.
