BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – If opening night is any indication of things to come, then the Mississippi University for Women men's basketball squad may well be worth watching. In its 2022-23 lid-lifter, the Owls scored a 97-87 road win at Birmingham-Southern College at the Bill Battle Coliseum, behind their own version of "The Wright Brothers."
 
Oh, The W's Shon Wright and Thomas Wright are not biological relation like their aviation pioneer namesakes- Orville and Wilbur. But the duo certainly are "siblings on the court," when it comes to basketball. The pair combined for 37 points, 18 rebounds and shot an aggregate .667 (14-21) from the field.
 
Shon had a double-double with a team-high 21 points (8-13 FG) and a game-leading 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, in just 17 minutes on the floor due to early foul trouble, Thomas added 16 points (6-8 FG) and seven boards.
 
The big win for head coach Dean Burrows' crew was significant in that it marked the first time in the five-season history of the program that the Owls have won a season-opening game. It also extracted a measure of revenge after the Panthers twice topped MUW last season, including a 39-point loss in the inaugural meeting between the teams on November 20, 2021 at the Sewanee Classic.
 
"We took care of the ball early on and shared it very well I thought," Burrows said. "We had a lull where we started to try and do our own thing, which allowed BSC to get back in it. Basketball is a game of runs and they got up five on us after we had been up by as many as 13.
 
"Every game, we talk about winning the rebound margin, having a positive assist to turnover ratio, and making more free throws than our opponent attempts. If you look at the box score, that's exactly what our guys did against a very good and very well coached BSC team."
 
The exceptional play of junior point guard Milos Zeradjanin was very much instrumental in engineering the victory, as well. Zeradjanin was 6-of-13 from the field on his way to a 17-point game. Zeradjanin dished off for eight assists, and hauled in six caroms, as well.
 
Zeradjanin's efforts did not go unnoticed by Burrows, either. "(It was a) noteworthy performance by Milos against the pressure they threw at him - and us - all night and speaks volumes about him. We will go as he goes offensively, meaning if he's taking care of the ball and getting it moving, we have a chance."
 
Transfer Andrew Shepherd had a nice debut for the Owls. Shepherd booked 15 pints on a 5-of-10 night from the floor. Senior teammate Quintiyus Causey was MUW's fifth double-digit scorer, with 14 points, buoyed by an 11-for-12 game from the free throw stripe.
 
Burrows received excellent play up-and-down his roster. Tyson Smithey pulled down nine rebounds and had two blocks. Brye Hopkins added six points and three rebounds before fouling out.  Both were making their debut for The W.
 
In all, MUW out-rebounded B-SC, 46-38.
 
On Saturday evening, The W will face Piedmont University in its second game of the B-SC Classic. Last season, Piedmont crushed the Owls, 95-42, in the regular season finale.