Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Davis, Johnson ignite Cowboys


At left, A.J. Davis and at right, Tyson Johnson

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

A.J. Davis is learning to be the spark to the Cowboys’ fire.

Davis has had his ups and downs, like many true freshmen do. He’s not played in two games this season and has started three others.

On Tuesday against Air Force, Davis scored six points in the second half, grabbed five rebounds, had one big steal and one length of the court assist to lead the Cowboys to the 72-59 victory.

“Coach just told me to come in and play with high energy, the team needed me,” Davis said. “I just came in and did what I had to do on defense and offense.”

His steal was critical, as the Cowboys had just turned the ball over with a slim 45-43 lead. Instead of giving up a possible game-tying basket, Davis out-jumped an Air Force player for the ball and got it back into the hands of senior forward Tyson Johnson, who eventfully scored on a layup.

The Cowboys never looked back.

“I felt that was a big play and I felt that A.J. made a lot of big plays in the second half,” Schroyer said. “He didn’t settle, he attacked the glass and did what this team needs A.J. to do. He’s a true freshman and he is just another young guy who is getting his feet wet. It is great to see as a program a lot of these guys starting to grow. I thought A.J. was a big difference tonight.”

Davis said it was just a matter of getting to the ball first, something he has the ability to do with his athletic prowess.

“I was in the air and I just wanted to go get it and give it to my teammates for a chance to score,” Davis said.

After a rebound, Davis then found senior guard Brandon Ewing cherry-picking down by the Wyoming bench. Ewing turned that long pass into a layup.

“He was just talking to coach and I just looked back to see him and threw it down to him,” Davis said. “Coach would have taken me out if I would have missed the pass.”

Johnson stays steady
How do you follow up being named the Mountain West Conference Co-Player of the Week? How about by scoring 18 points and grabbing eight rebounds.

Johnson continued his outstanding play as of late and was a big key for the Cowboys bin the second half as they made their run. Johnson, always hard to stop on the block, scored 12 points in the second half, whether it was by laying the ball in or drawing the foul. He was 10-of-10 from the line in the game.

“We weren’t getting any inside buckets, so coach wanted to get some inside buckets and get to the free-throw line, and that’s what we did,” Johnson said.

Schroyer said that Johnson is just doing what he has expected the senior to do.

“Tyson is one of the first players that I recruited here; I love the kid,” Schroyer said. “He has the ability to score on the block. He is kind of the heartbeat, he and Brandon. But he runs that locker room with an iron fist. No one messes with Tyson Johnson. I thought we did a good job of getting him the ball. We ran a couple of screens internally to try to get him the ball. When we do that, things open up on the perimeter and Sean was able to get some shots and get some penetration.”

Normally mild mannered on and off the court, Johnson showed a little extra emotion when he was whistled for an offensive foul in the second half after converting a layup. It was one of several offensive fouls the Cowboys were called for in the game, much to their chagrin as well as their fans’ discontent.

“Air Force likes to flop and he just fell. But they called an offensive foul on me and that is basketball,” Johnson said.

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