Lobos roll past Cowboys

Wyoming-New Mexico stats

By Wyoming Sports.org

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Wyoming’s road woes continued on Tuesday night, as New Mexico ran away from the Cowboys 86-57 in The Pit.

The Cowboys, 3-5 in the Mountain West, 14-8 overall, have now lost seven straight on the road this season.

The Cowboys hung tough with the Lobos early, but senior Chad Toppert hit four straight 3-pointers and the Lobos went on an 18-4 run and never looked back. New Mexico, 5-3, 14-9, led 41-20 at halftime.

“I thought for the first 10 minutes or so, we were doing what we needed to do,” Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said on his postgame radio show on the Cowboy Sports Network. “We came out and played some zone early because we were really worried about (Daniel) Faris. After Toppert knocked down a couple of 3s, we went back to man but got caught on a couple of flair-screens and he is as good of a shooter as there is in the country."

Toppert finished the game with 17 points, followed by Roman Martinez with 15 and Tony Danridge and Daniel Faris with 11 each.

The Lobos had a strong shooting night, hitting 30-of-58 from the field while limiting Wyoming to 17-for-48. UNM went 11-for-22 from behind the 3-point arc and converted 15-of-17 from the foul line.

"Obviously this is a really good win for us. I'm very pleased with our team," New Mexico coach Steve Alford said. " They've been working hard and we've been seeing improvements defensively. To hold this team to 35 percent shooting, 57 points -their lowest of the season is huge.

"Our defensive has really been solid and a lot of that has to do with taking good shots offensively. We only turned the ball over eight times, so the little things go hand and hand. It was just a really good performance by a lot of guys tonight."


The Cowboys just couldn’t get any stops defensively, especially off of their own scores.

“It’s the most disappointing thing for me all year," Schroyer said. “That’s why I am losing my hair. I think we prepare them really well, we work hard, but for whatever reason we go out in a game and it is not carrying over. Until that caries over, we’re not going to beat people on the road.”

Senior guard Sean Ogirri led the Cowboys with 16 points, followed by senior Brandon Ewing and freshman Afam Muojeke with 13 each.

“The frustrating part is I thought we got the ball where we wanted to in the first half -- we got nine shots in the paint, but didn’t capitalize,” Schroyer said. “We had 10 turnovers in the first half, six of them by our post guys. I’m not pointing any fingers, but that is the reality.”
The Cowboys return home Saturday when they host Utah at 2 p.m.