Aztecs strong with or without Wade

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

By no means is Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer slamming San Diego State star forward Lorenzo Wade, saying that there isn’t much of a difference for the Aztecs with him in or out of the lineup.

Schroyer said that the Aztecs are that deep and that good -- they can win without the first-team all-MWC selection, who missed the first game between the two schools because of a shoulder injury. Wyoming won that contest, 83-79.

“I think they have nine guys who could all start on a majority of the teams in this league,” Schroyer said. “He (Wade) is another guy, who like (Kyle) Spain, can post it and shoot it, and they do a nice job of getting him the ball 15-feet in to make plays. He’s a special player and he is one of five fifth-year seniors they have on their roster. Those guys have played a long time together and it is showing right now.”

The Cowboys will face the Aztecs for the second time this season Saturday night at 8 p.m. in San Diego.

Since Wade has returned to the Aztecs, 17-6. 7-3, he is averaging 14.0 points a game in a reserve role.

“I think no matter if any of their top nine guys play or don’t play, I still think they look really good,” Schroyer said. “Wade is obviously another threat. They have always had threats. The thing that I respect the most about this team is they are very selfless. They are grown up, they are mature, they have played a long time. They are playing with a purpose. This team is playing like a veteran group that they are.”

Have the Cowboys changed their preparation for defending Wade this time around? Not really, Schroyer said.

“They can put two or three guys in there; they cause a lot of problems no matter what,” he said. “We’ll tweak a few things, just looking at the film, and defend a few things, looking at certain things on the floor. But it will be pretty similar.”

The first four or five minutes of action will be a key in the game for the Cowboys, 14-9, 3-6. On the road, Schroyer said they cannot afford to fall behind too much. Other than against TCU, their road history backs up that assumption.

“It’s a home game for them; they are coming off a loss and one of their three (league) losses is to us,” Schroyer said. “We’re kind of in the same boat. Every time we go on the road, it seems like we are playing somebody coming off of a tough loss. We know we are going to get their best shot.”

Dermody coming around
Wyoming junior Ryan Dermody, who played in his second game of the season last Saturday against Utah, is getting more comfortable each time out. Against the Utes, Dermody played 17 minutes, scored two points, grabbed three rebounds and had two blocked shots.

Schroyer said that the last month of the season is important for the Cowboys and Dermody to get into more of a flow together.

“You have to go there with as many bullets as you can, and obviously Ryan provides us more depth and more experience," Schroyer said. “Just those two thing along will help us play better.”

Last flying road trip
After Saturday and not counting the MWC tournament in Las Vegas, the San Diego State trip is the final time the Cowboys have to get on an airplane. They have four home games remaining, and the other two -- at Air Force and at Colorado State -- are within driving distance.

“We’re very thankful that this is the last time we have to get on a plane,” Schroyer said. “It seems like the whole middle of January and into February, we’ve been on a plane.”

The “bye” week
With their turn of having Wednesday off, Schroyer said they were able to rest a bit and also work on some things.

“I think we’ve had a good week of practice and our guys understand that we have to play better,” he said. “They also understand that they have had a tough run and we have played good teams on the road, and this is another one.”
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Wyoming Cowboys (14-9 Overall, 3-6 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, Queens, N.Y. 15.1 4.6 1.6
F #21 Tyson Johnson 6-7 245 Sr. Long Island, N.Y. 14.7 7.8 2.0
C #15 Adam Waddell 6-10 235 R-Fr. Cody, Wyo. 5.2 3.8 0.8*
G # 0 Sean Ogirri 6-3 200 R-Sr. Denver, Colo. 14.8 2.3 2.5
G #23 Brandon Ewing 6-2 190 Sr. Chicago, Ill. 18.0 3.3 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 Injured-Hasn't yet played
F # 5 Ryan Dermody 6-9 205 Jr. Loveland, Colo. 1.0 2.5 1.0*
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 3.3 3.7 0.7*
F #25 Djibril Thiam 6-10 205 So. Dakar, Senegal 4.8 5.9 0.9*
F #32 Mahamoud Diakite 6-7 225 Jr. Paris, France 1.4 1.9 0.5*
C #33 Boubacar Sylla^ 7-2 275 So. Paris, France Redshirting
G #51 A.J. Davis 6-6 195 Fr. Columbus, Ohio 2.8 2.3 0.8
*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: 61-74 (.452), Fifth year
Record at Wyoming: 26-27 (.491), 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 (17-6, 7-3 in Mountain West Conference)
Probable Starters Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG APG
F #15 Kyle Spain 6-5 220 Sr. Newark, Calif. 14.6 5.2 1.3
F #32 Billy White 6-8 226 So. Las Vegas, Nev. 8.7 3.9 0.9
F #43 Ryan Amoroso 6-8 263 Sr. Burnsville, Minn. 6.8 4.4 0.6
G # 3 Richie Williams 5-10 162 Sr. San Diego, Calif. 7.0 4.2 3.9
G #23 D.J. Gay 6-0 155 So. Sun Valley, Calif. 7.9 1.6 1.9
Reserves
G # 2 Tim Island 6-4 207 Jr. San Diego, Calif. 0.5 1.0 0.3
G #10 Bryan Horton 6-1 196 Fr. Anaheim, Calif. 0.3 0.3 0.3
G #20 Jason Deutchman 6-6 210 So. Los Angeles, Calif. 0.0 0.8 0.3
G #21 Matt Thomas 6-4 213 Sr. Riverside, Calif. 2.1 1.7 0.9
F #24 Tim Shelton 6-7 241 Fr. Fresno, Calif. 8.0 4.9 1.1
G #25 Bryce Smith 6-3 202 Fr. Woodland Hills, Calif. 1.0 0.2 0.0
F #31 Lorrenzo Wade 6-6 225 Sr. Las Vegas, Nev. 14.0 3.8 2.5
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 5.4 2.3 0.6
Head Coach: Steve Fisher (Illinois State ’67)
Overall Record: 348-218 (.615), 18th Season
Record at SDSU: 164-136 (.547), 10th Season
Assistant Coaches: Brian Dutcher, Justin Hutson and Mark Fisher