Linskens comes up big

Sophomore Mikhail Linskens


By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

One game probably won’t send Wyoming sophomore center Mikhail Linskens from the doghouse to the penthouse.

Maybe at least Linskens is now out of the doghouse.

Linskens, who didn’t even appear in Wednesday night’s game until midway through the second half --- and probably only because freshman Adam Waddell and sophomore Djibril Thiam fouled out -- came up with four big points and couple of big rebounds in the Cowboys 83-79 win.

Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said he was proud of Linskens. That wasn’t the case for much of the last couple of weeks.

“He had been in the doghouse for the last 11 days,” Schroyer said. “We got in foul trouble, we subbed him in and we had a time out and everyone on the team, everyone on the staff tapped him on the head and said, ‘this is your time, big fella.’ I thought he played great.”

Linskens got a big dunk to help the Cowboys maintain a four-point lead with 2:30 left and left grabbed a loose ball rebound to end the game.

“Obviously, he finished two plays on the block, but he got a great big-time rebound in the second half,” Schroyer said. “He was the one who put 275 pounds on the floor and grabbed a loose ball, which allowed time to expire.”

Linskens hadn’t done much as of late or even much in his two years at Wyoming. In fact, he had played just 53 minutes in his last four games, scoring 14 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.

“I just want to win this game,” Linskens said. “If I play or don't play, I just want my team to win. And if I come in, then I try to give everything I can.”

You take it, big guy
The Cowboys basically clinched the win with nine seconds left when senior Brandon Ewing found a wide-open Tyson Johnson underneath the basket for a four-point lead.

Not only was it a big play, but Schroyer said the biggest thing he took from it was the maturity of Ewing.

“There’s 16 seconds left, we’re at home, we’re up two, Brandon could have forced a really tough shot,” Schroyer said. “No one, including myself, would have probably not said anything because he is all-league player. But Brandon deferring to Ty on the block, is probably the biggest point that we have made in a lot of strides in the program. I’m really happy about it.”

Being the aggressor
On Wednesday night, the Cowboys made the plays they had to on defense and had their best offensive night of the season, shooting 56 percent from the field (28-of-56).

Schroyer said that they played on their toes. He added that all week the UW coaches talked about being aggressive and not being scared. They also simplified things defensively.

Evidently, a 17-hour bus ride back home will give you some time to think about things.

“We were just in an attack mode,” he said. “We knew that if they got set and the ball stayed on our third side of the floor, that we were going to be in trouble. We needed to get the ball in reverse and we needed to attack them."

Road blues
One of the things that the Mountain West Conference coaches have talked about this season is the league’s balance. From top to bottom, there are no easy wins on the road.

UNLV and San Diego State found that out the hard way. Along with the Aztecs loss to Wyoming, UNLV was edged by struggling Colorado State 61-59 on Wednesday in Fort Collins. The conference win for the Rams was the first since 2007.

“The Mountain West Conference is a really good league,” SDSU coach Steve Fisher said. “It’s hard to win anywhere. If you play well, you’ll have a chance. If you don’t play with the ability to focus and concentrate for 40 minutes, then you probably aren’t going to win the game.

“When you go on the road, you had better bring you’re ‘A’ game.”