Cowboys sharp in win over Aztecs

Wyoming-San Diego State box

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

So much for rust.

The Wyoming Cowboys hadn’t played in 11 days that was compounded by a 24-point drubbing at Utah. Evidently, the time spent in the gym and film room paid off, as the Cowboys held off a talented San Diego State team 83-79 Wednesday in the Arena-Auditorium.

Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said they used the extra time to rest, work on their game and prepare for the Aztecs.

“Our guys played on their toes,” Schroyer said. “We were able to wear them down with our pressure. It’s for the first that we really found a toughness streak, if you will. We dug down really deep.”

Ranked second in the Mountain West Conference and 14th in the country in scoring at 81.6 points a game, the Cowboys did their part. San Diego State, which was ranked fourth in the country in defensive scoring at 55.7 points a game, didn’t play to their strength.

Five minutes into the second half, the Cowboys had already passed that average.

“They controlled the whole tempo, from start to the end,” Aztecs senior guard Richie Williams said. “They went to the line early, knocking down their free throws and they were a better team tonight.”

The Cowboys, led by Brandon Ewing’s 24 points and Tyson Johnson’s 22, shot 56 percent from the field (28-of-60).

“We pride ourselves on being a good defensive team, and tonight we were not a good defensive team,” San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. “We scored enough points to win, but we didn’t do a good enough job guarding. And that’s disappointing for everyone.”

The loss snapped a five-game win streak for San Diego State (2-1 in conference, 12-4 overall), which played the game without second-leading scorer Lorenzo Wade, who was nursing a shoulder injury.

In a game that featured 16 ties and 17 lead changes, the Cowboys led by six on three occasions in the second half, but could never quite put the Aztecs away.

Ewing and Johnson were featured prominently for the final two points late that basically clinched the win for Wyoming.

Up by six with 1:43 left, the Aztecs came back with four straight points by Kyle Spain and cut the lead to 81-79 with 43 seconds remaining. But Wyoming ran down the shot clock and Ewing hit Johnson underneath the basket for a layup with nine seconds left. Williams missed a 3-pointer and the Aztecs were not able to get another shot off.

“The main plan was to go to Tyson,” said Ewing, who also had six assists. “We wanted to get Tyson to post up because he is probably the best four man on the West Coast; nobody can guard him on the block. I saw Tyson wide open and I gave it to him.”

Fisher said the Aztecs rough night defensively typlified that last play.

“We made some poor decisions,” Fisher said. “We did some things that we were not supposed to do. One guy switched, and he shouldn’t have switched. It was a mental mistake that led to a costly basket. We had those kind of mistakes throughout the game that led to some easy baskets.”

Afam Muojeke finished with 13 points and Sean Ogirri added 12 for Wyoming.

Schroyer said that a key going into the game would be to not turn the ball over against a hawking San Diego State defense. After 10 miscues in the first half, Wyoming had just 10 turnovers in the second half.

“I thought we had a lot of guys step up today,” Schroyer said. “We really executed well in the second half and had just four turnovers after halftime. In San Diego State’s wins, they’ve averaged forcing 18 turnovers and scoring 27 points off of those turnovers. It was big for us to hold the turnovers down tonight.”

Billy White and Spain scored 16 points each for the Aztecs, who led 38-37 at halftime. Williams finished with 12 and Matt Thomas 11.

The Cowboys will now hit the road to face UNLV in Las Vegas Saturday, beginning at 8 p.m.

“UNLV is another very good team,” Schroyer said. “They went to Louisville earlier this season and won on the road. I hear they are trying to pack the house Saturday, so we will have to play with composure, and we will have to play with the same intensity and aggressiveness that we played with tonight.”

The Rebels, however, fell to Colorado State 71-69 Wednesday night in Fort Collins.