AUSTIN – A week before final exams, the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds presented an interesting test to open conference play for the St. Edward's men's basketball team with a switch-heavy defense and a 5-1 record.

The Hilltoppers aced it, dissecting the Greyhound defense with surgical precision in a 91-63 victory, reaching 90 points for the third time in seven games this season. 

"I told our guys we were outstanding today. Eastern New Mexico poses problems with their switching. The good news for us is we had five days to get ready for it," St. Edward's head men's basketball coach Andre Cook says. "We were constantly working on the switching with our slips and our reads. We took them out of who they are, and they had to play regular defense in the second half."

St. Edward's shot a season-best 60.3 percent from the field, scoring with brutal efficiency making 35-of-58 attempts, including 7-for-17 from deep. 

The Hilltoppers opened with a symphony of movement, setting on and off-ball screens simultaneously, cutting routes short and redirecting them on the fly, slipping screens, and more to cause confusion at the points where one Greyhound defender was supposed to handoff his defensive assignment to another. 

First-year big SEAN ELKINTON was the biggest beneficiary, scoring 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting in the first half. Cook inserted Elkinton into the starting lineup in the third game of the season to add size on defense and the ability to make switches pay on offense. His promotion into the starting lineup moved sophomore team captain BLAKE NIELSEN to the second unit, which has been far from a demotion. 

Nielsen has anchored the second unit, showcasing a versatile skill set and high basketball IQ, filling in a little across all columns of the box score. Against Eastern New Mexico, Nielsen found one-on-one matchups in his favor, showing how thoroughly he could destroy a defense once he bends it. 

He entered the game with the score tied at 11 and quickly found BENNETT MOHN in the corner for an open 3-pointer. A few minutes later, the Hilltoppers went to Nielsen on several consecutive possessions as the Hilltoppers went from egalitarian to centralized, getting the ball to Nielsen on the move and on the baseline to beat his defender with a variety of spin moves, flip shots, and cunning passes as part of a 20-9 run in his first stint of action.

Nielsen scored nine of his 17 points in the first half and dished out all four of his game-high assists to lead the Hilltoppers to a 49-28 lead at the half. 

Eastern New Mexico changed to a more traditional defense in the second half and fell prey to MASON HIX, who showed great aggression in attacking mismatches of cuts and quick posts for 10 of his game-high 18 points in the second half. 

Defensively, the Hilltoppers competed, forcing Eastern New Mexico to play in a crowd and forcing 19 turnovers, including 11 steals, to earn a 25-14 advantage in points off turnovers. 

"MASON HIX was excellent. We need him. He's shooting at such a high clip. If we can get him to defend, that's a big boon for us," Cook says of his forward, who grabbed five rebounds and two steals. "Our guys were just sharp. We said death by a thousand papercuts before the game, and that's what we did." 

St. Edward's improves to 6-1, dropping Eastern New Mexico to 5-2. The Hilltoppers will play Western New Mexico on Saturday.