PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball is set to play their final homestand of the 2025-26 season. Thursday night will feature a matchup with UT Permian Basin. Before the Falcons and Greyhounds hit the hardwood, please take a look at the Starting Five Preview:
1.) Split The Road: Eastern New Mexico is coming off a 1-1 weekend in south Texas. They earned an 85-71 win over Texas A&M International after a season-high 35-for-57 (61.4%) mark from the floor. The Dustdevils went 10-for-20 from three-point range, but struggled in the rebound competition, 25-21.
Jose Murillo played a big role for Eastern with 17 points and five blocks.
Modibo Sanogo had an excellent outing with a season-high 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting. A ten-game winning streak ended as Texas A&M-Kingsville beat Eastern New Mexico, 83-75. TAMUK forced the Greyhounds to commit 19 turnovers and they scored 27 points on those opportunities. Eastern only had four players score in double figures and a late comeback effort was deflated with costly fouls and losing the rebounding battle, 31-28.
2.) Keeping Up With The Joneses: Eastern leads the Lone Star Conference in fast break points per game (17.96) and field goal percentage (51.0). ENMU plays strong in the paint and typically wins the scoring battle down low. One of the most recent exceptions came in the loss to TAMUK. The Greyhounds are the top in the conference in rebound margin at +6.2. The program always battles for the extra possession and that has aided Eastern New Mexico to the top of the LSC. Other notable marks for the Hounds include ranking second in scoring offense (83.1) and steals per game (10.0).
3.) Rank 'Em: The Greyhounds come into the final week of the regular season as the No. 12 rated team in the nation as voted in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll. No. 9 Lubbock Christian, No. 12 Eastern New Mexico, and No. 23 DBU all represent the LSC in the top 25. St. Edward's (35) and Western New Mexico (26) are receiving votes in the poll. The most recent south central regional rankings also came out this week. Eastern New Mexico sits third in the regional rankings directly behind Lubbock Christian and DBU. The Hounds are seeking their second bid to nationals over the last three seasons.
4.) From The Basin: Despite coming into this game eliminated from the postseason playoff picture, UT Permian Basin still ranks highly in a few categories. The Falcons are fourth in the conference with 17.0 free throws made per game and a 35.3% mark from three point land. Falcon Sharrod Taylor leads the LSC with 2.95 three's per game. He is also top 10 in the league with 1.59 steals/game, 65 made three-pointers, 16.1 points/game, 4.2 assist/game and a 39.6% three point shooting mark. Grad student Tash Lunday leads the league playing 35:47 minutes per outing. He is second in the Lone Star with 144 made free throws.
5.) Greyhounds Can Hoop: Five Greyhounds are averaging double figure scoring marks this season.
Jose Murillo leads the way with 16.3 points per outing. The senior forward has played all four seasons at ENMU and recently jumped to No. 12 on the all-time school scoring list. He has 1,275 total points and is expected to reach No. 9 (1,319) before season's end.
Mo Austin is posting 15.4 points per game and has an impressive 108 total assists alongside 72 steals (top 10 nationally).
Cooper Jackson earns 13.0 points per contest and has snagged 77 steals. Jackson is six steals away from tying the school record (Statcrew era) in total steals in a career.
Austin Abrams earns 12.7 points per game. He has scored 450 points in his time as a Greyhound.
Treyvon Byrd is averaging 11.7 points per outing. The North Carolina native has scored 586 points as a Hound and grabbed 276 total rebounds.
