Cowboys beat Utes

Wyoming seniors go out on top

By Richard Anderson
Wyomingsports.org

Looking at the stat sheet, one might think that the Utah Utes won the game Saturday at the Arena-Auditorium.

Utah had more field goals (28-21), outscored the Cowboys in the paint (28-12), had an 8-2 advantage in points off of turnovers, out-rebounded Wyoming (35-28) and outscored UW off the bench (25-18).

Yet, the Cowboys prevailed on Senior Night, 72-64.

The difference? Wyoming was 26-of-27 from the free-throw line, to just 5-of-10 for the Utes.
Several things left Utah coach Jim Boylen a little testy after the game, and the Wyoming free-throw advantage was one of them.

“The discrepancy was at the free-throw line,” Boylen said. “We had 16 more shots than they did, but Wyoming had 17 more free throws than we did.”

Boylen wasn’t done just yet.

“We out-rebounded Wyoming, we had 16 more shots, we had less turnovers, we didn’t make enough plays to win,” Boylen added. “The difference in this game were the points at the free-throw line.’

The first-year Utah coach might still be talking about the free-throw difference on his way back to Salt Lake City.

The Cowboys, however, looked at the disparity a different way. The way they see it, they earned those free-throw attempts.

“We knew coming in that Utah is a great defensive team, really aggressive on the defensive end,” Wyoming senior guard Brad Jones said. “We tried to use that to our advantage by attacking the rim. We did a great job getting to the free-throw line and knocking them down.”

Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said he told his team to stay aggressive, which translates to getting the ball to the basket.

“We wanted to have good shots, high percentage looks and looks that if they don’t go in, we have a chance to go to the free -throw line,” Schroyer said. “For us to be successful, we need to get there close to 30 times. We were able to do that, almost.’

Jones should know about being aggressive. Despite his 6-foot frame, he butters his bread driving to the basket. Jones finished 10-of-10 from the line, scoring a team-high 20 points.

“Guys wanted to step up for each other and not let each other down,” Jones said. “We wanted to just go up there and knock them down with confidence, and that’s what we did tonight. It was pretty amazing.”

The Cowboys led by four at halftime (28-24) and by as much as 11 on a couple of occasions before the Utes made a late run. Utah, however, would get no closer than four.

Wyoming was able to stretch its lead and maintain it as junior forward Tyson Johnson hit two big baskets and junior guard Brandon Ewing nailed a crucial 3-pointer with two minutes left.

“I thought Tyson Johnson really came up in the second half and played really good basketball; he scored a couple of buckets in the post,” Schroyer said. “They did a really nice job of limiting his touches in the block. We were able to finally get an angle and get it in there.”

Johnson finished with 12 points, the eighth time in his last nine games that he has scored in double figures.

Ewing finished with 14 points, including 11 in the second half. All four of his field goals came in the final 20 minutes.

“Brandon hit two big shots for us,” Schroyer said.

Wyoming was perfect from the free-throw line down the stretch, hitting all 12 free-throw attempts in the final six minutes.

“We work on them a lot. We emphasize them every day, we shoot them every day for 15 minutes or so,” Schroyer said. “It’s a big part of the game. I think the guys are starting to value how important they are; just like the guys are starting to figure out how we want them to play. We’re starting to play a little better as a basketball team. I was really happy for them.”

Wyoming senior forward Joseph Taylor, who had two get-out-of-the-way dunks, one early and the other in the final seconds, hit his only free throw to complete a three-point play in the second half. Not a great free-throw shooter in his career at Wyoming (.560), Taylor, like the team in general, is showing marked improvement from the line.

Not shooting well the line is not an option any more, Taylor said.

“I missed that shot at Air Force and that would have won the game for us,” said Taylor, who finished with 12 points, six rebounds and two blocks. “Free throws are important. We didn’t take them as serious as we should have, especially me. Now we have to start making them. When it comes down to the wire, Coach (Schroyer) told me that every year in most conference games, 80 percent of them are decided by about six points. Free throws count.”

Utah’s 7-1 leviathan, Luke Nevill, led the Utes with 22 points, even though he didn’t start for the first time this season. Bryant finished with 15 points and Luka Drca added 12.

“With changes in our lineup, I think we started out good,” Boylen said after his team fell to 6-8 in the Mountain West Conference and 15-12 overall. “We were under control early, so I wasn’t disappointed with the changes that we made. The last five minutes we just didn’t have the energy or the toughness. But we have to give Wyoming credit for playing well.”

Although the Cowboys (5-10, 12-16) still have a tough road ahead just to climb of out of the play-in game against Colorado State at the MWC Tournament, every game counts as far as they are concerned. Wyoming will look to get a big road upset Wednesday at BYU to close the regular season.

“It was a great team win,” Jones said. “We played very well and if we continue to play like this, we can make a run in these last few games.”