For a team that had only one win before Tuesday night, the Mississippi University for Women men’s basketball team sure showed it knew the best path to victory: Get the ball to Thomas Wright.
The 6-foot-3 forward out of Pensacola, Florida, was a dominant force inside during the second half against Southeastern Baptist, making 9 of 10 shots, scoring 19 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in 19 minutes as the Owls pulled away from the Chargers for a 77-58 win at Pohl Gym.
“He just came out of COVID protocol, too,” The W coach Dean Burrows said of the first official recruit he brought to Columbus.. “That’s what Thomas does. He didn’t start today because he’s been out.
“He led all of JUCO last year, Division I JUCO, in field goal percentage, and he led in offensive rebounds. And you see that translates.”
Wright had 2 points at the half, when the Owls led 31-27, but was a nightmare for the Chargers after the intermission, scoring on putbacks, layups after good entry passes and on strong moves to the basket.
“He’s so unselfish,” Burrows added. “Watching him pass out of the post is so much fun because he’s going to make the right play and get the guy the ball where he needs it.”
Wright was the finisher on one of the Owls’ prettiest sequences of the night, when Kenterrius Davison took a sharp pass from Milos Zeradjanin and immediately fired it to Wright for an easy bucket. That play started an 11-0 run that gave the Owls a 58-41 lead with 9:35 left to play.
“Look at Kenterrius Davison and Milos — between the two, 12 assists and two turnovers. That’s how you win ball games. I’m very proud of those two. They both stepped up.”
Zeradjanin had one of his best games as an Owl, reflected in the team being +26 when he was on the floor. Next best was Wright’s +17. The 6-foot sophomore guard from Serbia finished with 8 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.
The 11-0 run was stopped in part by a technical foul on The W, but after six consecutive points by the Chargers the Owls went on a 12-0 run featuring 6 points from Wright and 5 from Trey Jackson to take their biggest lead at 70-47.
Jackson joined Thomas Wright in double figures with 14 points, while Shon Wright and Nathan Reed each added 10.
Reed was something of a revelation. The sophomore out of Starkville High School barely had seen the court before Tuesday night, as two rebounds, two fouls and two turnovers in seven minutes on Jan. 5 against Rust was it for him this season.
Against the Chargers, Reed came off the bench to get 10 points, 5 rebounds and a blocked shot in 13 minutes.
“Another kid I’ve seen with my own eyes grow ridiculously the last week and a half is Nate Reed,” Burrows said. “He came out of nowhere today. Out of nowhere for a lot of people, but again, I’ve been seeing him day in and day out. He’s been putting in the work, and he’s really starting to buy in.”
The Owls’ bench was outstanding, as nine players had at least 10 minutes on the court and 13 got in the game.
“We got 49 points off the bench, and we had 36 points in the paint,” Burrows said. “We had more points in the paint than we did off of 3s, so we know where our bread is buttered.”
The Owls, not a good 3-point shooting team, hit 8 of 27 (29.6 percent) from beyond the arc and shot 44.4 percent overall. They also hit 13 of 16 free throws.
For a team that carried a 1-13 record into the game, it was a pretty good effort even against a short-handed Southeastern Baptist team that was coming off of a 100-50 loss to Southern Miss.
“Coming out of a 20-day layoff from games, shut down twice from COVID protocols, started back up with three days of small group instruction and skill work …,” Burrows said. “We only had maybe three full practices as a group, so I’m pretty proud of these guys.”
“I’ve seen growth in the little things. Are we there yet? No. But I definitely see things in young men getting better, and at the end of the day that’s all I want.”
The Owls, who already had a scheduled game Saturday against Covenant College canceled, are off until a Feb.5 trip to Texas to face the University of Dallas (4-12).
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Trey Jackson fires a 3-point shot Tuesday against Southeastern Baptist at Pohl Gym. Jackson scored 14 points as the Owls defeated the Chargers 77-58 for their second win of the season. Chris Jenkins/The W Athletics
