Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming redshirt freshman Afam Muojeke drives to the basket in a game earlier in the season.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
On paper, it’s strength vs. strength as the Wyoming Cowboys host San Diego State Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium.
The Cowboys are the No. 2 scoring team in the Mountain West Conference and 14th in the country, averaging 81.6 points a game, while the Aztecs are the top-ranked team in scoring defense and fourth in the nation, giving up just 55.7 points a game.
As the saying goes, something probably has to give.
Only five of the 15 San Diego State (2-0 in MWC, 12-3 overall) opponents have scored at least 60 points against the Aztecs. Last Saturday, San Diego State beat Utah 72-63, holding the then high-scoring Utes to 10.9 points less than their average. Utah had scored 91 points in each of its last two games, including a 91-67 win over Wyoming.
Both Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer and SDSU coach Steve Fisher said it is all about personnel.
“I think they have a lot guys who have been together for a long time,” Schroyer said. “They have nine juniors and seniors. Of their six seniors, four of them are fifth-year seniors. I think Coach Fisher is always underrated defensively as a coach. They have played so long together and obviously they are very talented, they cause a lot of turnovers. It’s hard to get shots at times.”
Fisher said they have good players who have worked exceptionally hard.
Wyoming Sports.org
On paper, it’s strength vs. strength as the Wyoming Cowboys host San Diego State Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium.
The Cowboys are the No. 2 scoring team in the Mountain West Conference and 14th in the country, averaging 81.6 points a game, while the Aztecs are the top-ranked team in scoring defense and fourth in the nation, giving up just 55.7 points a game.
As the saying goes, something probably has to give.
Only five of the 15 San Diego State (2-0 in MWC, 12-3 overall) opponents have scored at least 60 points against the Aztecs. Last Saturday, San Diego State beat Utah 72-63, holding the then high-scoring Utes to 10.9 points less than their average. Utah had scored 91 points in each of its last two games, including a 91-67 win over Wyoming.
Both Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer and SDSU coach Steve Fisher said it is all about personnel.
“I think they have a lot guys who have been together for a long time,” Schroyer said. “They have nine juniors and seniors. Of their six seniors, four of them are fifth-year seniors. I think Coach Fisher is always underrated defensively as a coach. They have played so long together and obviously they are very talented, they cause a lot of turnovers. It’s hard to get shots at times.”
Fisher said they have good players who have worked exceptionally hard.
“We’ve done a good job of helping one another and we’ve made it hard for teams to get a lot of easy baskets on us, and that is critical," Fisher said. “We’re playing, good, solid individual defense, but the teamwork has been as good as we have had since I have been here."
The Cowboys, meanwhile, have four players scoring in double figures this season, led by senior guard Brandon Ewing, who leads the MWC in scoring at 19.1points a game. In fact, those four Cowboys are ranked in the Top 10 in the league in scoring, including Afam Muojeke, who is sixth at 15.3 points a game, senior Sean Ogirri, who is seventh at 14.9 per game and senior Tyson Johnson, who is ninth at 14.8.
Fisher said they can’t look to just try to stop Ewing, who he said has been a thorn in everybody’s side for his entire career with Wyoming.
“Ogirri is dangerous when he crosses mid-court to score and Johnson has been a really hard guard for everybody,” Fisher said. “This is a high-scoring, high-octane offense that they throw at you. They can get a lot of points in a hurry, so we’re going to have our hands full. You can’t say, ‘just guard Ewing and you’ll be OK.’ They have maybe (four) guys who are over 10 points a game.”
Schroyer said the key for his Cowboys is to not turn the ball over.
“In their 12 wins, they have caused an average of 18 turnovers and have scored 27 points off of those turnovers,” Schroyer said. “We have to try to take care of the ball. They do a nice job with their pressure, especially after made baskets and dead balls. We’re going to have to use our guys to try to establish a post presence and play out of there.”
Offensively, the Aztecs are led by senior forwards Kyle Spain and Lorenzo Wade at 14.8 and 10.4 points a game respectively. The Aztecs have plenty of balance, with five other players averaging at least 6.4 points a game.
Week and then some off
How have the Cowboys, 0-1 and 11-4 responded to the 11 days between games?
Schroyer said they have had some good practices on the court and in the film room. Still, it was probably a little too much time between games.
“Normally, we use this time to try to get ourselves better,” Schroyer said. “I’m worried about the layoff because it is 11 days since we have played. Obviously that worries you as a coach. But we can’t control that. We’ve tried to use the first four or five days on ourselves and then the last few days trying to prepare for San Diego State.”
It is a tough start in league play for Wyoming, with Utah, San Diego State and UNLV the first three teams on the schedule.
“Those are three of the top four teams now in the conference,” Schroyer said. “Playing those people early in the season is always tough, no matter when it is. That’s how it is scheduled, so we’re just trying to control what we can and try to get better. We have the most talented team, from top of bottom, coming in on Wednesday.”
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Wyoming Cowboys
(11-4 Overall, 0-1 in the Mountain West Conference)
Probable Starters Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG APG/BPG
F #11 Afam Muojeke 6-7 210 R-Fr. Jamaica, N.Y. 15.3 4.0 1.6
F #21 Tyson Johnson 6-7 245 Sr. Long Island, N.Y. 14.8 8.3 2.1
C #15 Adam Waddell 6-10 235 R-Fr. Cody, Wyo. 6.3 4.5 0.9*
G # 0 Sean Ogirri 6-3 200 R-Sr. Denver, Colo. 14.9 1.9 2.7
G #23 Brandon Ewing 6-2 190 Sr. Chicago, Ill. 19.1 3.2 5.3
Reserves
PG # 1 JayDee Luster^ 5-9 165 So. San Diego, Calif. Redshirting
G # 2 Arthur Bouëdo 6-2 165 Fr. Aix en Provence, France Hasn't yet played
F # 5 Ryan Dermody 6-9 205 Jr. Loveland, Colo. Hasn't yet played
G #12 Galand Thaxton 6-2 175 Fr. Laramie, Wyo. 0.5 0.3 0.0
C #13 Mikhail Linskens 7-0 260 So. Bredene, Belgium 3.7 4.6 0.9*
F #25 Djibril Thiam 6-10 205 So. Dakar, Senegal 5.8 8.0 1.3*
F #32 Mahamoud Diakite 6-7 225 Jr. Paris, France 1.5 2.1 0.6*
C #33 Boubacar Sylla^ 7-2 275 So. Paris, France Redshirting
G #51 A.J. Davis 6-6 195 Fr. Columbus, Ohio 3.4 2.6 1.0
*Indicates blocked shot average
^Luster and Sylla will have to sit out of competition during the 2008-09
season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules.
Head Coach: Heath Schroyer (Armstrong Atlantic State ‘95)
Overall Record: 58-69 (.457), Fifth year
Record at Wyoming: 23-22 (.511), Second year
Assistant Coaches: Fred Langley (Fresno State ‘87), Shaun Vandiver (Colorado ‘02)
and Anthony Stewart (Mount Union ‘93)
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San Diego State Aztecs
Probable Starters Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG APG
F #15 Kyle Spain 6-5 220 Sr. Newark, Calif. 14.8 5.1 1.1
F #24 Tim Shelton 6-7 241 Fr. Fresno, Calif. 8.5 6.0 1.1
F #32 Billy White 6-8 226 So. Las Vegas, Nev. 8.1 3.7 0.7
G # 3 Richie Williams 5-10 162 Sr. San Diego, Calif. 6.4 4.1 3.5
G #23 D.J. Gay 6-0 155 So. Sun Valley, Calif. 9.1 1.5 2.2
Reserves
G # 2 Tim Island 6-4 207 Jr. San Diego, Calif. 0.7 1.2 0.3
G #10 Bryan Horton 6-1 196 Fr. Anaheim, Calif. 0.3 0.3 0.4
G #20 Jason Deutchman 6-6 210 So. Los Angeles, Calif. 0.0 0.5 0.5
G #21 Matt Thomas 6-4 213 Sr. Riverside, Calif. 1.7 1.3 0.9
G #25 Bryce Smith 6-3 202 Fr. Woodland Hills, Calif. 1.3 0.1 0.0
F #31 Lorrenzo Wade 6-6 225 Sr. Las Vegas, Nev. 10.4 4.6 2.9
G #40 Kelvin Davis 6-3 215 Sr. Waterbury, Conn. 2.5 1.8 0.5
F #42 Mehdi Cheriet 6-8 212 Jr. Tarare, France 4.9 2.1 0.7
F #43 Ryan Amoroso 6-8 263 Sr. Burnsville, Minn. 7.5 4.4 0.6
Head Coach: Steve Fisher (Illinois State ’67)
Overall Record: 343-215 (.615), 18th Season
Record at SDSU: 159-133 (.545), 10th Season
Assistant Coaches: Brian Dutcher, Justin Hutson and Mark Fisher
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