Cowboys to face Lobos at The Pit

Wyoming and New Mexico will close out the first half of the Mountain West Conference season Tuesday night at 8 p.m. in The Pit in Albuquerque.

The game will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports.

The Cowboys, 3-4 in the Mountain West, 14-7 overall, will look to get something positive out of a two-game road swing, as they are coming off a tough 84-60 loss to BYU on Saturday in Provo.
New Mexico, 4-3, 13-9, fell to Utah 69-68 in Salt Lake City.

“You go from the Marriott Center to The Pit, it just keeps coming” Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said Saturday in his postgame radio show on the Cowboy Sports Network. “It’s good. It’s like I told our guys when we came on this trip, we have nothing to lose, we have to go out and we have to play well. We have to play with a sense of confidence. The first 10 minutes are going to be really big Tuesday night. If we can withstand the energy and the crowd in the first 10 minutes, then I think we’ll be in the game.”

Four Lobos are scoring in double figures on the season. Senior Tony Danridge is leading the way with 13.2 points per game. Senior Daniel Ferris is averaging 11.8 points a game, followed by senior Chad Toppert at 10.9 points a game and junior Roman Martinez at 10.4 per game.

Wyoming senior Brandon Ewing continues to lead the MWC in both scoring and assists, with 18.2 points and 5.38 assists per game. He is vying to become the first player in MWC history to lead the league in both categories. Ewing also ranks 34th in the nation in assists per game.

Ewing became the third leading scorer in Wyoming basketball history on Saturday. To date, Ewing has scored 1,939 career points. He moved ahead of former Cowboy Eric Leckner, who scored 1,938 career points between 1985-88.

In addition to Ewing, three other Cowboys rank among the top 10 scorers in the MWC. Redshirt freshman Afam Muojeke is fifth (15.6 ppg), senior Tyson Johnson is sixth (15.5 ppg) and redshirt senior Sean Ogirri is ninth (14.7 ppg).

Johnson ranks in the top-10 of the MWC in seven different statistical categories. In addition to ranking sixth in scoring, he is in the top-10 in rebounding (No. 2-8.1 rpg), defensive rebounding (No. 1-6.29 pg), free throw percentage (No. 2-.849), minutes played (No. 5-32.81), blocked shots (No. 5-0.86 bpg) and field goal percentage (No. 6-.528).

Ogirri is currently 15th in the nation and first in the MWC in made
3-pointers per game with 3.33.

The Cowboys continue to lead the nation in both made and attempted free throws. To date, they have made 452 of 611 (.740) free throws. They have made 27 more free throws than anyone else in the country and have shot 11 more than any other team in the nation.

Series history
The Cowboys lead the all-time series with New Mexico by a margin of 62-54. In fact, the Cowboys have won 11 of the last 18 meetings between the two schools. However, the Pokes have not won in Albuquerque since Feb. 15, 2003.

Next Saturday
The Cowboys will open the second half of the MWC schedule at home against Utah on Saturday, beginning at 2 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium. The game will be televised by The Mtn.
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Wyoming Cowboys ( 14-7 Overall, 3-4 in the MWC)
Probable Starters Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG APG/BPG
F #11 Afam Muojeke 6-7 210 R-Fr. Jamaica, Queens, N.Y. 15.6 4.5 1.5
F #21 Tyson Johnson 6-7 245 Sr. Long Island, N.Y. 15.5 8.1 2.0
C #15 Adam Waddell 6-10 235 R-Fr. Cody, Wyo. 5.3 3.8 0.8*
G # 0 Sean Ogirri 6-3 200 R-Sr. Denver, Colo. 14.7 2.3 2.6
G #23 Brandon Ewing 6-2 190 Sr. Chicago, Ill. 18.2 3.5 5.4
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 3.0 3.8 0.8*
F #25 Djibril Thiam 6-10 205 So. Dakar, Senegal 4.9 6.4 1.0*
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: 61-72 (.459), Fifth year
Record at Wyoming: 26-25 (.510), Second year
Assistant Coaches: Fred Langley (Fresno State ‘87), Shaun Vandiver (Colorado ‘02) and Anthony Stewart (Mount Union ‘93)
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New Mexico Lobos (13-9 overall, 4-3 in MWC)
Probable Starters Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG APG
F #30 Roman Martinez 6-6 185 Jr. El Paso, Texas 10.4 6.0 1.7
F #53 Daniel Faris 6-9 235 Sr. Albuquerque, N.M. 11.8 6.0 1.6*
G # 5 Dairese Gary 6-1 205 So. Elkhart, Ind. 7.2 2.4 4.1
G #23 Phillip McDonald 6-5 190 Fr. Cypress, Texas 8.6 3.8 1.2
G/F #32 Tony Danridge 6-5 215 Sr. San Bernardino, Calif. 13.2 4.0 2.7
Reserves
F #00 A.J. Hardeman 6-8 225 Fr. Del Valle, Texas 2.8 2.0 0.6*
G # 2 Jonathan Wills 6-6 185 So. Carson, Calif. 2.1 0.4 0.9
G # 3 Curtis Dennis 6-5 195 Fr. Bronx, N.Y. Redshirting
G # 4 Dion Williams 5-11 165 Fr. Albuquerque, N.M. 0.0 0.0 0.0
G #11 Nate Garth 6-2 180 Fr. Sacramento, Calif. 4.7 1.3 3.6
F #15 Will Brown 6-9 225 Fr. Dallas, Texas 2.2 2.4 0.4*
G #33 Chad Toppert 6-7 215 Sr. Albuquerque, N.M. 10.9 3.2 1.2
G #40 Chris Johansen 6-4 190 Fr. Albuquerque, N.M. 0.0 0.0 0.0
C #42 Kem Nweke 6-10 265 R-Fr. Missouri City, Texas Injured
Head Coach: Steve Alford (Indiana ’87)
Overall Record: 345-201 (.632), 18th Season
Record at New Mexico: 37-18 (.673), Second Season
Assistant Coaches: Craig Neal, Ryan Miller and Chris Walker