Late 3-pointer sinks Cowboys

Wyoming-TCU stats

By Wyoming Sports.org

FORT WORTH, Texas -- The Wyoming Cowboys were one defensive play away from pulling off a big Mountain West Conference road victory on Wednesday night.

But sometimes, one play is all that counts.

TCU’s Edvinas Ruzgas hit a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left in overtime to lift the Horned Frogs to a 79-78 win over the Cowboys.

Actually, the way Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer saw it, they did enough to win but lost the last three possessions.

“I don’t know if our brain was turned off or what?” Schroyer said on his post-game show on the Cowboy Sports Network.

The Horned Frogs led for much of the game until Wyoming senior Brandon Ewing’s free throw tied it up at 66-66 with 2:41 to play in regulation. The Cowboys sent the game into overtime on senior Tyson Johnson’s 3-pointer with 13 seconds left.

Wyoming then led by one with just a few ticks on the clock before Ruzgas, who had just six points in the game, hit the wide open trey.

The Cowboys last-second effort was nixed when senior Sean Ogirri’s layup was blocked at the buzzer by TCU forward Kevin Langford.

The Cowboys could have used a couple more stops on Langford, who scored a career-high 36 points for the Frogs, 4-1 in the MWC and 13-6 overall.

Ronnie Moss, who missed a last-second 3 at the end of regulation, added 11 points for TCU, with Zvonko Buljan adding 10. TCU has now won its six straight conference game at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

Johnson and Ogirri each scored 18 for Wyoming. Ewing added 16 and Afam Muojeke contributed 12 for Wyoming (12-6, MWC 1-3). Adam Waddell hit 10.

“Our kids played really hard. I told our guys that if they looked at our first (MWC) game on the road at Utah, we were not very good,” Schroyer said. “We went to Vegas and got better on the road. We came to TCU and had a chance to win the game. So, we are getting better.”

The Cowboys return home on Saturday as they host rival Colorado State at 4 p.m.