PORTALES, N.M. – No. 13 Eastern New Mexico men's basketball begins their 2026 NCAA DII tournament run in Dallas, Texas as they face seven-seeded St. Mary's. Before the Greyhounds play the Rattlers, please take a look at the Starting Five Preview:

1.) Postseason Is Here: Eastern New Mexico began postseason on a strong note with wins over West Texas A&M and No. 8 Lubbock Christian in the first two rounds of the Lone Star Conference tournament. An 11-point win over WT got the weekend started on a high-note before earning a 101-85 result over LCU to advance to the program's third ever LSC tournament title game. In the championship against DBU, the Greyhounds played in a tight battle that saw the score change sides 12 different times. The most important score change came near the buzzer as the Patriots nailed a deep two-pointer to win the conference tournament and get the right to host the south central regional this weekend.

2.) All-Region Jose: Jose Murillo was named a first team all-south central region performer from the D2CCA (Conference Commissioner's Association). The poll is voted by the region's sports information directors. Murillo is the school's leader in blocks, games played, games started, and minutes played. He is expected to break the school record for total rebounds during the south central regional. Murillo is one of two players from the Lone Star Conference named to the first team in the region. He joined region player of the year Amondo Miller Jr. with the honor. The Chihuahua, Mexico native is having an impressive senior season as he is posting 16.4 points per game along with 8.3 rebounds per contest. He has swatted a conference leading 58 shots.

3.) We've Been Here: Alex Alfaro and Jose Murillo were part of the last Greyhound men's basketball team to make the NCAA DII tournament in 2024. This year, Eastern New Mexico is making their fourth ever appearance in the national tournament. ENMU first made the field in 1993 where they earned an opening round win over Missouri Southern State (76-73) before falling to eventual regional champion Washburn by one point. In 2004, Eastern fell to Northwest Missouri State (77-57) in the opening round. The Bearcats won the region that season. When Alfaro and Murillo played in the tourney, the Hounds lost to Colorado Mesa, 95-77. Murillo had seven points and eight rebounds in the game.

4.) Rattlin' The Hounds: St. Mary's enters the NCAA DII tournament after winning their first ever game in the Lone Star Conference tournament. The Rattlers pulled out a 94-80 win over Western New Mexico who also made the regional tournament field. DBU beat StMU on their way to the championship game, 82-64. Guard Damani Claxton was named a first team all-conference honoree while Olaverr Camacho earned second team honors along with a nod on the all-defensive team. Junior Justin Britt was recognized by the league's coaches with an honorable mention nod. StMU comes into the contest with a 21-9 record. They hold wins over Colorado School of Mines, Eastern New Mexico, DBU, and St. Edward's. Claxton is the team's leading scorer with 14.0 points per contest. StMU leads the conference in scoring defense forcing opponents to score just 66.6 points per outing.

5.) A Desired Rematch: St. Mary's spoiled a 12-game winning streak for Eastern New Mexico back on Jan. 8 in Portales. A top-25 matchup featured the Hounds and Rattlers just before the start of the spring school semester. Eastern scored a season-low 54 points in the 63-54 outing. The 54 points is such an outlier in ENMU's scoring average as their next lowest total is 70 points in a 70-63 win over CSU-Pueblo back in November. Only two players, Mo Austin (11 pts) and Austin Abrams (11 pts), scored in double figures for ENMU. Despite playing 39 minutes, Jose Murillo had a season-low seven points on 2-of-8 shooting. He had nine rebounds for Eastern. Olaverr Camacho did well for StMU in the game with an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double. As a team, ENMU only made 19-of-52 (36.5%) from the floor. StMU forced the Greyhounds to commit 18 turnovers, including six to the credit of Cooper Jackson. Foul trouble was not a big struggle for the Hounds, but StMU saw Justin Britt pickup five fouls over 20 minutes of action.