Cowboys pay back Rams

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming freshman Afam Muojeke drives between two Colorado State players on Saturday.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Many of the Wyoming newcomers had never played in a Border War game with Colorado State, although senior Sean Ogirri, freshmen Afam Muojeke and Adam Waddell and sophomore Djibril Thiam saw what it was like from the bench last season as redshirts.

When the Rams, winless in the MWC, still upset the Cowboys last year in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament in March, it stuck in their craw.

On Saturday, they were determined not to let that happen again, even as the Rams came back from a big deficit to make it a game. The Cowboys, however, held on for an 83-74 win in the Arena-Auditorium for a little pay-back.

“I was just thinking about the Mountain West Conference Tournament last year, losing to them,” said Wyoming’s Afam Muojeke. “It was tough, especially for the seniors that I was playing with … I wanted to get the win.”

After Wyoming jumped out to a big first-half lead, those thoughts quickly returned as the Rams cut the Cowboy lead to two with 3:50 to play. But the Cowboys responded with seven unanswered points and then hit 6 of 9 free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory.

Thiam, who scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds in the game, said he was thinking about that last matchup with the Rams from the get-go.

“(UW head coach) Heath (Schroyer) said last season that they ended our season and I took this game personally, because one of their players is from my country, so there was a competitive aspect to it before the game,” Thiam said. “I wasn’t going to let this opportunity go -- we’re at home and you can’t underestimate any team. I just went out there and gave it my all.”

Schroyer said that anytime you have freshmen and sophomores stepping up and making plays down the stretch in a game rivalry setting like Wyoming-CSU, it is great for the program in general.

"Obviously for tonight, it was great for the win," Schroyer said. "To continue to look forward, Adam Waddell, Afam and Djibril, they are playing a lot of minutes, getting a lot of experience. Some of those plays that those guys made down the stretch was the difference.”

For now, last year's disappointing loss to the Rams, is less and less on their minds.