Hounds set to open LSC play

PORTALES — The Eastern New Mexico basketball programs have been on opposite ends of the spectrum in what has been a short pre-conference schedule. The women come in at 4-1 with a neutral-site blowout Saturday over New Mexico Highlands, while the men are 1-4 after suffering a road blowout Saturday at Washburn.

But they’re both 0-0 in the all-important Lone Star Conference standings. That will change this weekend, as each team hosts Thursday and Saturday games to open the next three months of LSC action.

Midwestern State comes to Greyhound Arena Thursday night for a 5:30 p.m. doubleheader, while Cameron will arrive for a 2 p.m. Saturday doubleheader.

The ENMU women are coming off a 2-0 record in the West Texas A&M Thanksgiving Classic, the latter game an 89-54 shellacking of New Mexico Highlands.

“I’m very proud of our kids,” coach Josh Prock said. “They’ve played well. Defensively, we’ve been very strong. The feeling is really good, but the nice thing about this team is they’re not satisfied. They know what’s in front of them.”

The men, meanwhile, dropped a pair of Division-I exhibitions Monday to Texas El Paso and Wednesday to New Mexico State, and just never got on track in a 94-56 loss at Washburn.

“This last road trip was really hard,” men’s coach Tres Segler said Monday night. “The two Division I games were fun. We should have won the UTEP game, which would have been pretty historic for us. The Washburn game, we were just worn out. I feel more prepared after tonight. We had a great practice, and it was a pretty big bounceback. With these Lone Star games, you throw the records out. The game means a lot, and both of us are going to have our kids as ready as we can. I’m excited for my guys to play in front of the fans.”

The men’s LSC season includes 18 games — a home game and road game against each of the nine other conference opponents. The women’s season is 20 games, with Texas Woman’s included. In both cases, the top eight teams in those LSC games will qualify for the single-elimination tournament in early March.

Women’s notes — Prock said the team chemistry and athleticism are better than in years past, but he’d still like to find some better ways to score the basketball.

Playing well of late is sophomore Alivia Lewis, named to the Classic All-Tournament Team after going for 15 points and 25 rebounds in the two games.

“She’s extremely confident,” Prock said of Lewis. “She’s playing at a high level. She and Kamirah Decker, for the next three years, are going to give people problems.”

Against Midwestern State: “Midwestern State has always been a great program. One thing they always are is very well prepared. They come with a great gameplan. One thing they do really well is pressure the basketball. We’re going to have take care of the basketball. They do a good job in transition, so we’re going to have to guard the paint and the 3-point line as well.”

Against Cameron: “Cameron is a big team. They’ve always been solid. They’ve always played extremely fast. You’ve got to get back in transition. They shoot a lot of 3s, they shoot a high percentage.”

Men’s notes — Segler admitted he’s still toeing the line between holding guys accountable for mistakes and pulling guys too early.

“We have good depth. What that causes is rather than leaving a guard in for 37 minutes a game and letting him figure things out, I’ll take a guy out if they’re not doing what they’re supposed to do. But when those guys can’t get in a rhythm, it’s hard for them. I’m stall learning that, they’re still learning that. Hopefully this Thursday, we’ll have a better flow.”

Midwestern State is always a big game for Segler, an assistant under MSU’s Nelson Haggerty before taking the ENMU job three seasons prior.

“Any Coach Haggerty team is going to be crazy tough, and these guys are no exception,” Segler said of the Mustangs. “They’ve lost three in a row. One of the best things about Coach Haggerty is he gets his guys to play fierce after a loss. They’re going to come in hungry to play us. The main concern is we have to be physically aggressive and match them.”

Against Cameron: “(Coach Andrew Brown) always recruits a dynamic roster. He’ll have 4s that can play the 3, 3s that can play the 4, and guys taking shots you don’t expect. It’s a contrast of styles. You have a power team in Midwestern, and then in Cameron they’re going to switch defenses, they’re going to (exploit mismatches when you) switch off screens.”