PORTALES, N.M. – (RV) Eastern New Mexico men's basketball is set to take on first year Lone Star Conference member UT Dallas on Thursday night. Before the matchup between the Greyhounds and the Comets, please take a look at the Starting Five Preview:
1.) Sooner or Later: Eastern New Mexico took care of business against both Lone Star Conference institutions from the Sooner state. ENMU opened with a 95-69 win over Cameron and an 80-59 victory over Oklahoma Christian. The Greyhounds were led offensively by four different student-athletes who scored in double figures including
Mo Austin (22 pts),
Cooper Jackson (17 pts),
Treyvon Byrd (14 pts), and
Austin Abrams (10 pts) against CU. In the win against OC, Byrd (28 pts), Jackson (17 pts), and
Jose Murillo (10 pts) carried the way for the Hounds. The wins over the weekend gave Eastern New Mexico their seventh-straight win.
2.) Receiving Recognition: The Greyhounds are receiving votes in the national poll for the first time since December 2024. Eastern New Mexico holds five total votes in the NABC top 25 national poll. ENMU is the only school in the receiving votes section in the poll. Four different schools are ranked in the top 15 of the list, including No. 4 Lubbock Christian, No. 7 St. Mary's, No. 8 West Texas A&M, and No. 14 St. Edward's.
3.) Terrific Trey: Treyvon Byrd needed a breakthrough weekend and that is exactly what happened as he aided the Greyhounds to a pair of crucial conference wins. The senior from North Carolina combined for 42 points over two games. Previously, he was scoring 7.8 points per game before the weekend and now is up to 11.1 points per contest after his impressive weekend. Byrd shot the ball extremely well over the two contests going 17-for-26 from the field. He also sunk 2-of-4 shots from behind the arc. Against OC, he added 11 rebounds to earn his first double double as a Hound.
4.) Hooray for Coop: Senior guard
Cooper Jackson scored 17 points in both games this past weekend. The Lawrence, Kan. native also added five rebounds, four assists, four steals, and a pair of made three pointers in the contest with Cameron. He posted four steals, three rebounds, and two assists in the win over Oklahoma Christian. Jackson leads the conference with 3.25 steals per game and is 14th in the league with 3.1 assists per outing. He currently sits with a 1.67 assist/turnover ratio.
5.) Scouting the Comets: Eastern New Mexico will be facing UT Dallas for the first time in program history on Thursday night. The Comets are scoring 73.4 points per game which ranks 14th in the conference. One area where they are struggling is allowing opponents to score 85.9 points per contest – 16th in the conference. UTD is one of the best programs in the league with 4.14 blocks per outing. The also dish out the ball well as they average 15.86 assists per contest. Rebounding is also a strength for UT Dallas as they post 14.3 offensive rebounds per game, which is second in the conference. The Comets currently sit at 0-7 and will be playing their first ever LSC game as a new member of the Lone Star.
