COLUMBUS, Miss. – The 2025-26 season-opening game could not have gone much better for The W men's basketball, as it rolled to an 89-61 non-conference victory over regional rival Huntingdon College at Pohl Gym. The Owls (1-0) had four players –
Tray Huguley,
Joe Haze Austin,
Devin McCaine, and
Trent Walker - finish in double digit point totals, in handing the Hawks (1-1) their first loss of the young season.
"We talked pregame about giving the crowd and fans something to continue to come back to by how we play as a unit and finding joy in one another's successes throughout the game," MUW Head Coach
Dean Burrows explained. "We hit on every statistical category that we emphasize daily. But the biggest difference was our taking care of the ball, especially in the first half. That's what the difference was, in my opinion."
Huntingdon had barely had a chance to sit down after the National Anthem, before The W had raced out to an 8-0 lead to open the game, and leading wire-to-wire. The biggest surge for the Owls began with 3:52 left in the first half and leading by a precarious seven points, 30-23. It was at that juncture that Austin rang up a three-ball that would start a 19-0 run by MUW that extended into the second half, when a
Tyler Shephard layup put The W on top, 49-23 (a span of 4:59 minutes).
But it was the aforementioned quarter that carried the water for the Owls. While the hosts shot an impressive 56 percent (38-65) for the night as a team, MUW's firm of Huguley, Austin, McCaine, and Walker, was even more deft from the field, at a combined 65 percent (31-48) and accounted for 82 percent of The W's offense.
In his first official game as an Owl, Huguely was…huge. The sophomore transfer from Shelton State Community College tallied a game-leading 26 points on a 12-for-16 effort from the floor. Huguley also grabbed eight rebounds, passed off two assists, and blocked three Hawks' shots. His totals probably should have been a surprise as, in The W's exhibition game last week versus NCAA Division I Mississippi Valley State University, Huguley had a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Austin did register a double-double off the bench for The W in 31 minutes against the Hawks, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds in his MUW debut. Austin was 8-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. He also had three assists, two steals, and a block on his ledger.
McCaine's 6-for-10 shooting night helped him to 15 points, to go along with two assists and two steals in his first game as an Owl, as well. Returner
Trent Walker finished with 12 points, hitting 5-of-9 shots, in just 21 minutes of work.
The opening day win was just the second for the MUW program in its eight-year history. The last time the Owls won a season lid-lifter was exactly three years to the day – November 11, 2022 – when the squad defeated Birmingham Southern College to open the 2022-23 campaign.
The 89 points put up by MUW is also the most scored against Huntingdon in the even meetings between the teams. Likewise, the 61 points by the Hawks is the fewest The W has permitted on defense in the series.
The W next be moseying off to West Texas for a pair of games at Howard Payne University, in Brownwood, on Friday (Nov. 14/6 p.m.) and at McMurray University on Saturday (Nov. 14/4 p.m.), in Abilene.
