PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball is back on the road to play two east division foes. Prepare for ENMU's contest with UT Tyler by reading the Starting Five:

1.) Greyhounds Win: The Hounds were quite effective in a 101-72 victory over Western New Mexico last Saturday. ENMU held the lead the entirety of the contest and were up by as many as 33 points at two different points in the second half. Five different student-athletes scored in double figures in the contest with Jose Murillo leading the way with 23 points. One of the best aspects of the win is that Eastern New Mexico has gone three-straight games shooting above 50%. The program is averaging 94.0 points per game in that span. Five players scored off the bench for Eastern, including Austin Abrams who contributed ten points for the team. It was the first time Abrams has scored ten or more points against a DII program this season.

2.) Más Murillo: Jose Murillo is in his third season with Eastern New Mexico. The Chihuahua, Mexico native has made an excellent mark in conference play for ENMU this year. He has scored 20+ points in two-straight games and has totaled two double doubles in conference action. Murillo leads the Lone Star Conference with 1.65 blocks per game and 28 total blocks. He is fourth in the nation shooting 70.6% from the floor. The junior's 110 total blocks in his career leads all former Eastern New Mexico student-athletes. Murillo recently exceeded the 400 total rebounding mark in his career. His career stat marks include – games played (78), games started (73), points (729), rebounds (400), blocks (110), assists (67), and steals (34).

3.) Getting Two It: Mario Whitley is tied for the lead among conference players in total double doubles as he recently earned his eighth of the season. Whitley posted 18 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Western New Mexico. He has gone five-straight games with 10+ points and is the team's leading scorer with 14.5 points per contest. The Saginaw, Mich. native has had five or more rebounds and two or more field goals in every game this season. He has improved his free throw shooting and is connecting on 78.5% (6th best in the LSC) of his shots from the charity stripe. Whitley has been the most active Greyhound as he ranks third in the conference playing 34:34 minutes per contest.

4.) Be An Artist: Eastern New Mexico controls the paint in most matchups. In fact, the team has only lost the "paint battle" once this season. UT Tyler has only lost the "paint battle" three times this year. The Patriots rank 11th and the Greyhounds are 12th in the LSC in total three's made per game this season. Both teams do not rely on deep shots to win games. The Patriots have attempted at least 13 three pointers in every game besides one this season. ENMU has only had three games with less than 13 attempts from behind the arc. Eastern has posted two games with 10+ three's made, while UT Tyler has one game with double digit made three's. The Hounds top three scorers mostly rely on shots inside the arc, while the Patriots top three scorers have a general mix between both shot selections.

5.) Toughness Wins: The team that plays the toughest Thursday night will win between Eastern New Mexico and UT Tyler. The Patriots are seventh in the nation forcing opponents to hit just 28.3% of their shots from three and ninth in the nation allowing just 39.3% of shots to fall from the floor. UT Tyler boasts the second-best scoring defense in the LSC as foes only earn 65.7 points per game against them. Another strength for the Patriots is that they record 4.1 blocks per game and hold a +4.0 rebound margin. One of the top players to watch out for from UT Tyler is Sam Phipps. The Patriots' big man has 111 total rebounds this season and is averaging 6.5 per game. The Greyhounds have been tough on defense this year as they have totaled 193 steals and 73 blocks as a team. Seven ENMU student-athletes have at least one dozen steals this season.