PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball is back at home for the first time since Dec. 6, 2025. After five-straight games away from Portales, ENMU will host No. 23 St. Mary's on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Before the matchup, please take a look at the Starting Five Preview:

1.) Keep Them Coming: Eastern New Mexico is on their longest winning streak since 1967-68 when the team won 12 games. Another win will lock in the second longest winning streak in program history. The victorious run has been aided by a perfect 5-0 standing in Lone Star play and an additional four south central region wins. Eastern also sits at 6-0 in true road games, which matches the same number of victories taken on the road in 2024-25. ENMU also has eight wins by 10+ points this year. The only loss this season came at the beginning of the campaign to Fort Lewis (76-73) in a matchup that saw the Skyhawks sink 56.3% of their shots from behind the arc.



2.) Nationally Honored: Eastern is included in the top 25 polls for a second consecutive time. This marks the 13th time that ENMU has been nationally ranked and it is the first season for 30 years. The most weeks the program has spent ranked in a single season is four times and that came during the 1969-70 and 1970-71 campaigns. Eastern's highest ever ranking is No. 8.  Five schools in the Lone Star are included in this week's polls. Eastern will have to battle with two of those institutions.

3.) Sophomore Leadership: Mo Austin has made a major difference for Eastern New Mexico this season. The second year Greyhound is posting 16.4 points per game and is one of the top passers in the Lone Star Conference with 57 total assists. He has only turned the ball over 23 times this season. Austin has added 69 rebounds and 36 steals. In 10 of 13 games, the Pueblo, Colo. native has scored in double figures. He has posted 20+ points in five of those appearances. Austin has nearly surpassed his 39 steals from a year ago and is averaging more than six minutes more per game. In the win over WNMU, he got to the line 14 times where he connected on 12 free throws to help Eastern New Mexico beat the Mustangs.

4.) Season High Alert: Eastern New Mexico's Cooper Jackson posted a season high 25 points in a win over Western New Mexico. Despite getting into early foul trouble, the shifty guard was able to glide his way through the paint and make tough layups look easy against WNMU. He made 9-of-11 from the floor and made his only three point attempt. He has made a shot from behind the arc in all, but one game this season. Jackson also tied a season high with five rebounds and added five assists. The Lawrence, Kan. native has scored 12+ points in all five Lone Star Conference games this season and has tallied a steal in every game. When Jackson makes 50% or more of his shots from the floor, the team is 6-0.

5.) Hear the Rattle: St. Mary's comes into town as the No. 23 team in the nation. StMU is led by preseason player to watch Damani Claxton who is impressive in so many ways. The star player boasts 15.2 points per game and has 38 assists credited to his name. Claxton leads the Lone Star with an 87.5% clip from the charity stripe. He also is second on the team with 15 made three pointers. The Rattlers three losses have come to DBU, Fort Lewis, and Lubbock Christian. Most recently, StMU fell to LCU (66-58) in a matchup that saw St. Mary's only connect on 30.6% of their shot attempts. The only player who scored in double figures was Wayne Wiggins (13 pts) who did so off the bench. They allowed Lubbock Christian to hit 47.2% of their field goals and saw four different Chaps score 10+ points. St. Mary's has one of the best defenses in the nation as opponents only score 65.3 points per game on them.