MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Before it even started, it was a game that most expected the Mississippi University for Women men's basketball team was to lose. It was a game, on paper, that the Owls should lose and, in the end, did lose.
 
But while NCAA Division III MUW's 80-60 exhibition setback at the hands of NCAA Division I Alabama State University may have ultimately ended as expected, it certainly was anything but predictable. The W actually led the Hornets, 32-31, with 2:20 left in the first half. The host ASU team – whose next home game is versus the University of Southern California and one Bronny James – were not able to shoo away the Owls until it finally wore them down midway into the final segment.
 
Leading at the intermission, 38-32, the Hornets found themselves under attack by The W to open the second stanza, in spite of MUW leading scorer Brye Hopkins being lost the balance of the contest after a leg injury early in the game. A pair of three-point baskets by Josh Dukes (10 points) and Cam Smith (10 points) sandwiched a short jumper by Dariun Doss (12 points), as an 8-2 run by the visitors knotted the game at 40-40 at the 18:35 mark of the second half.
 
At that juncture, however, the ASU depth and height advantage - averaging 3-4 inches per man on the court at any given time – started to become evident. Over the next eight minutes, the Hornets stung The W with a 25-4 run that built a 21-point cushion (65-44) with under 11 minutes left in the game, as they never looked back from there.
 
MUW could no closer than 17, with 4:16 left, as a Michael Smith Jr. (2 points) layup made it 72-55.
 
Tyson Smithey, with 10 points, completed the quartet of Owls in double-figure points. Smithey also had a team-leading seven rebounds.
 
Cam Smith pulled down five caroms, as well.   He also had a pair of blocked shots to his credit.
 
"We came into this afternoon's contest out of what was not a good showing (versus the University of Dallas on Nov. 26) challenging our guys on four things," The W Head Coach Dean Burrows explained. "First, what would our level of compete be, would we all be the teammate that we want to play with, that our individual and collective effort is always going to be us versus ourselves, and how would we prove ourselves today? For a lot, if not all, of the first half we went toe-to-toe with them to the point we outrebounded them by seven in that stanza and held them to only three offensive boards"
 
"I thought we had some guys step up when Brye went down early on and for the rest of the game as well," Burrows continued. "Cam showed glimpses of what we see every day while Josh and Tyson did some very good things. What that first half showed our group is that when they compete and when they're bought in on what we emphasize daily and ask of them, we have a chance every time we take the floor. In that second half, we showed some grit in answering a few of their runs where that wasn't the case a week ago today. I'm really looking forward to this journey we are about to embark on as a group to grow closer as a program and play the way we do, day-in and day-out."
 
The W will get another opportunity to test itself versus an NCAA I foe on Tuesday (Dec. 5/7 p.m.) when it travels to Lake Charles, La., to face McNeese State University in another exhibition bout for the Owls.