Cowboys shooting for second straight road win

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Earlier in the Mountain West Conference season -- even just a couple of weeks ago --- an early deficit on the road basically spelled trouble for the Wyoming Cowboys.

The maturation process of a young team, however, is beginning to bloom and the Cowboys are showing the fruits of their rewards.

Wyoming, winners of three straight MWC games, will look to make it four in a row on Saturday when they face Air Force at 4 p.m. at Clune Arena.

Not only would it be significant win string for the Cowboys, but it would also be one on the road. Wednesday’s win over Colorado State in Fort Collins was the team’s first road win in one year -- at CSU. A win at Air Force would be Wyoming’s first since the 2003 season and the first back-to-back road wins since victories at New Mexico and Air Force that season.

Although the Falcons are winless in league play this season, Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said they will need to be at their best to beat the Falcons.

“This is going to be a huge test and anytime you go to a league opponent on Senior Night, it is going to be a huge challenge, and this will be no different,” Schroyer said. “Those seniors have won a lot of games there and they’ve had a week to prepare. We’re going to obviously have to play very well.”

Wyoming, 17-10, 6-7 in the MWC, won for the second straight year at CSU by playing well down the stretch, after struggling early in the game. The Cowboys trailed by 11 at one point in the first half before trailing by just two at halftime.

Midway through the second half, Wyoming might have played as well offensively as it has in a long time.

“I was really proud of our guys,” Schroyer said. “They hung together and they could have folded. We’ve shown a lot of progress on the road in the last two or three weeks of the season. We stayed together and we made plays down the stretch on both ends.”

The Cowboys have been far from perfect, Schroyer said, but they are getting better, something every coach wants to see from his team at this point of the season. Wyoming’s improvement began to show a couple of weeks ago during the bye week (only one game on a Saturday).

“I thought we really got better in the bye week and almost had a refocus, a recommitment during that week,” Schroyer said. “I thought we played good against San Diego State on the road for the most part and we came back and had a big week here. The last two or three weeks as a team, we have really stepped forward.”

After Saturday’s game, the Cowboys will return home for their final two contests against two of the top teams in the league -- New Mexico and BYU.

Every game is big for his team, Schroyer said.

“It’s February; it’s league play,” he said. “They are all big. It feels good to win games in February. We have a lot of basketball left and a lot to play for. We’re going to stay grounded and keep trying to prepare for the next one.”