BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Mississippi University for Women men's basketball suffered its first loss of the young 2022-23 season, falling to Piedmont University, 71-57, at the Birmingham-southern Black Tie Classic. The Owls fell to 1-1, while the Lions improved to 1-1.

What won us the game last night, is what hurt us tonight in this one as far as FT% (62%) where we want to be 80% or higher every game & turnovers (which led to 26 of their points). We held them to 71 points which is where we want to hold opponents. The rebound margin was even.

"At times tonight I felt we settled for a three-point field goal rather than the inside-out three-point field goal that we wanted, MUW Head Coach Dean Burrows said. "There were many positives from the last three days worth of games that we take away from the overall experience. One being tonight getting back into the game in the first half and having two freshmen on the floor helping us to do so. Our guys played with a lot of heart all weekend long and stayed together, which will serve us all season long."

In the early going of the first half, the teams swapped leads. PU held a seven-point cushion, 26-19, with 6:15 left in the stanza when a flurry by The W's Chris Evans closed the gap. Evans drained a three-ball and, on the ensuing Lions' possession, made a steal and layup. A few seconds later, Thomas Wright got an offensive rebound and put-back basket to tie it at 26-26.
 
With 4:45 showing in the half, Wright had a layup and was fouled. He completed the three-point play as MUW led 31-28. Piedmont took the lead it would never relinquish at the 1:30 mark of the first half on a trey that made it 34-33. The Lions carried a 36-33 cushion into the locker room.
 
The W made several second-half runs at PU, but the Lions maintained a double-figure advantage the final 10 minutes of the game, keeping he Owls at bay.

"Our goal is to go 1-0 as many times as we can not only Gameday, but in everything we do on and off the court," Burrows explained. "While we came away from the weekend at 1-1, we went toe-to-toe with two programs who were both picked to finish second in their respective leagues. I want our guys to know and believe that we are on the cusp of something really special if we acknowledge that everything matters, because there is no such thing as 'little things'.", versus Piedmont
 
Junior Thomas Wright had a team-leading 16 points, hitting 5-of-10 from the field. He also hauled in eight rebounds.
 
The W newcomer Brye Hopkins was the only other MUW player in double-digit scoring, with 10 points. Hopkins was an efficient 5-of-6 shooting and also corralled eight rebounds.
 
Shon Wright had a balanced nine point-nine rebound game, along with an Owls' best three assists. Evans and Milos Zeradjanin each finished with eight points. Zeradjanin added three rebounds and Evans a pair of steals.

The W will play its first home game of 2022-23 on Tuesday (5 p.m.) versus Southern University-New Orleans at Pohl Gym.
 
"We are more than excited to be at home this Tuesday and play in front of the home crowd for the first time in a 'normal' gameday environment since COVID hit," Burrows surmised. "We have to play in a way where we not rely on the crowd to lift us up, but where our play lifts the crowd and gets them going. We are looking forward to seeing everyone in Pohl on Tuesday."