PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball is back home at Steve Loy Family Foundation Arena. Before the Greyhounds face Angelo State, please take a look at the Starting Five Preview:

1.) Look To Regroup: ENMU lost to Lubbock Christian last Saturday, 88-68. Three players scored in double figures for the Hounds in the contest. Eastern won the rebounding battle, 34-25. LCU connected on 12 three pointers, including eight in the first half to take a 15-point advantage going into the intermission. The Chaps limited two major contributors for Eastern as they forced Cougar Downing and Mario Whitley to go a combined 2-for-12 from the floor. Both players finished with seven points with a majority of their points coming from the charity stripe. ENMU also committed twelve turnovers and Lubbock Christian scored 17 points on those takeaways.

2.) Back Home: After two-straight road trips, ENMU is back in Portales. The team went 2-2 on the road trip with key wins over UT Tyler and Midwestern State. This year, home has been a pretty good place for Eastern as they hold an 8-3 record inside Steve Loy Family Foundation Arena. The Hounds have scored 100+ points four times this season with all four of those coming in Portales. Eastern has not lost to Angelo State at home since 2020 – a three point loss in early February. Eastern New Mexico will play their next two games at home – ASU (Thursday) and UTPB (Saturday).

3.) Statistics Matter: Statistically speaking, Eastern New Mexico is one of the strongest teams in the Lone Star Conference. The Hounds lead the LSC in scoring offense (89.1 ppg), scoring margin (+14.9), rebounds per game (40.33), rebound margin (+9.6), fastbreak points (21.52 ppg), and field goal percentage (51.3%). Junior forward Jose Murillo leads the conference in blocks per game (1.43) and field goal percentage (67.9%). Senior Mario Whitley is one of two players in the league with nine double doubles and he leads the conference with 6.84 defensive rebounds per contest.

4.) Recap Rams: Eastern New Mexico beat Angelo State earlier this season, 80-70. It was the first time ENMU had won in San Angelo since 2013. The victory was aided by a double double from Jose Murillo as he picked up 17 points and ten rebounds. Whitley led the team in scoring with 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Treyvon Byrd contributed nicely with 15 points and Mo Austin added 13 points. ENMU won the rebounding battle convincingly, 45-34. The Hounds also managed to score a whopping 48 points in the paint compared to just 28 for the Rams. ASU did have four players in double figures, including two student-athletes who did so off the bench. Eastern New Mexico finished the matchup shooting 29-of-57 (50.9%) from the floor.

5.) Looking at ASU: Angelo State is a tough team defensively as they rank in the top 25 nationally in scoring defense by allowing just 66.4 points per game to opponents. Eastern New Mexico is one of two teams to score 80 or more points against the Rams this season. One of the best defenders for ASU is Kaden Evans who averages 1.90 steals per game. Evans has recorded multiple steals in four-straight games. Between four seasons with Emporia State and Angelo State, he has 191 total steals. Opponent shooting percentages are also notable for the Rams as teams only make 41.3% of their shots from the floor and 30.6% of their shots from behind the arc. ASU is 12-2 this season when they score 65 or more points. The two losses have come against New Mexico Highlands and Eastern New Mexico.