Cougars show experience down the stretch

Richard Anderson
BYU puts pressure on Wyoming junior Ryan Dermody on Wednesday.

Cowboys-Cougars stats

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming sports.org

Is BYU the New York Yankees of Mountain West Conference basketball? Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer thinks so.

Down the stretch, BYU showed why it is fighting for the conference title. The young Cowboys showed why they are not there yet. The Cougars outscored Wyoming 21-8 in the final eight minutes to beat Wyoming 78-68 on Wednesday in the Arena-Auditorium.

“Mt hat’s off to BYU; they’re really good,” Schroyer said. “It’s like playing the Yankees. They are good every year. They made the plays down the stretch.”

BYU, 23-6, 11-4 in Mountain West, is tied with Utah and New Mexico for first place with one game to play.

“It’s great to coach guys who really, really compete,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose. “I think right now this group is in a position where we can find different ways to win and find different ways to shoot the ball. We were a little more aggressive going to the basket and getting to the free-throw line.”

Wyoming, 18-11, 7-8, led by 10 midway through the first half and was up 40-35 at halftime. The Cowboys still led by three with 8:13 to play, before the Cougars ran off 11 unanswered points to take control.

Lee Cummard, who led BYU with 24 points, scored seven straight points in that run and Jonathan Tavernari hit a 3-pointer to put the Cougars up 67-60.

“Lee Cummard kind of had his way towards the end,” Schroyer said. “That’s what guys do who have been through it -- two NCAA tournaments and three postseasons -- and they are going to go again. Those guys and that program are where we’re trying to go.”

The Cowboys, meanwhile, went over 10 minutes without scoring a field goal and never got back in the game.

Sean Ogirri led Wyoming with 25 points, 17 in the first half. Brandon Ewing followed with 16 and Afam Muojeke added 11 for the Cowboys. Wyoming shot just 33 percent from the field in the second half and missed 11 straight shots late in the game.

“We got some really good looks right at the basket and we had some free throws that just didn’t go down,” Schroyer said. “It was one of those things.”

Tavernari scored 19 and grabbed 11 rebounds and Jimmer Fredette added 15 points for BYU. The Cougars bench out-scored Wyoming 11-3 and BYU out-rebounded Wyoming 48-33.

“I thought our bench was terrific tonight; it was a real team effort,” Rose said. “With the championship race right now, this was a huge game for us.”