Ogirri finds his shot in win over Pioneers

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming senior Sean Ogirri defends Denver's Kyle Lewis on Saturday.

Wyoming-Denver Boxscore

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Through one exhibition game and four regular-season contests, questions were asked about senior Sean Ogirri’s struggles at times in his first season with the Cowboys.

This about a player still averaging over 12 points per game.

On Saturday, those questions returned from the media although in a little different light, as Ogirri scored a Cowboy career-high 19 points in the 62-54 win over Denver.

Ogirri had made just 10 3-pointers in the previous four games, before connecting on 6 of 13 attempts on Saturday. He turned out be the only Cowboy to hit from the land of 3, as the rest of the team was 0-for-6.

“Any team that goes zone, Sean is the go-to player that I look for and everybody else looks for, that we design plays for,” Wyoming senior guard Brandon Ewing said. “If they go zone, they have to pick their position -- let Tyson (Johnson) score down low or leave Sean for an open 3. Once he hit one and once he hit two, and he gets going, that is all she wrote.”

Just about every 3-pointer by Ogirri proved to be critical in either getting the Cowboys back in the game or taking a lead. His two straight 3-pointers up by four six minutes into the second half. His final 3-pointer at the 9-minute mark put Wyoming back out in front for good at 45-43.

“It was about time I started making some shots,” Ogirri said. “I made shots to keep us in the game and give us leads. I felt pretty good.”

Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer has said all along that he has confidence in Ogirri, even when he struggles.

“Sean came to the party tonight,” Schroyer said. “We started to see that look in Sean’s eyes. He has been where we want to go (NCAA Tournament). Having him and Brandon out there leading us is a nice thing for a coach.”

Ogirri said it is all about keeping his confidence and continuing to play good defense.

“That also led to our beating them down the stretch,” he said. “But it is all about being confident and just shooting it.”

Ewing has a scare
Ewing also had another solid game with 16 points, including 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

“Brandon is playing his best basketball of his career,” Schroyer said.

Ewing received a little scare early in the game when he landed awkward on his shoulder going for a high pass.

He left the game for a couple of minutes and didn’t have problems from that point on.

“It was scary a little bit and I thought my season was over,” Ewing said. “I was more frustrated than I was in pain. The trainer did a good job of getting me back.”

Waddell continues to come on
Wyoming redshirt freshman post Adam Waddell didn’t match his statistics from the Texas State game (16 points, 8 rebounds), but he did come on in the second half and hit on all four of his field-goal attempts in a career-high 27 minutes.

“Adam Waddell is getting more confident. He is really growing up,” Schroyer said. “Our guys are every confident in him when he’s on the floor, and I like the spark he gives us off of the bench.”

Playing to win
Of the Cowboys five wins, three have been close in crunch time, with the Cowboys still on top.

Ewing said that the last 10 minutes for this team is “winning time.”

“This team, one through 15 through the coaching staff to the last guy on the bench, we have one goal in mind, and that is to win,” Ewing said. “We’re not trying to count our wins to get to 20 wins, we’re trying to win every game that we play. The last 10 minutes is winning time for us.”

The 5-0 start is the best start since the 1997-1998 season.

“I don’t think I have been 5-0 since high school,” Ewing said with a smile. “It feels real good right now. We’re working on the next one, Boise State, then we have another one at LMU (Loyola Marymount), back on the road. We’re going to get the next one at six.”

Wednesday’s game at Boise State will be the first road game for the Cowboys this season.

They said it will be business as usual.

“We’re going to prepare for them on Monday, we’ll see what happens. We’ll be ready,” Ogirri said.