Cowboys upset Lobos

Cowboys-Lobos stats

By Wyoming Sports.org

LAS VEGAS -- After last Saturday’s one-point loss to New Mexico to close the regular-season, the Wyoming Cowboys knew they were close to making a breakthrough.

On Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center, they broke through.

Wyoming rallied from a 13-point deficit in the first half and defeated the Lobos 75-67 to solidify their postseason hopes.

“I'm just really, really happy for our guys,” Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said. “I thought that they just gutted out a great win. I'm happy for the fans that made the trip here. It was a big win for our program, but most importantly for our players. A lot of people counted them out, but I love these guys. They got a lot of fight to them. I'm just really speechless because I'm just
so happy for these kids.”

Wyoming (19-12) moves on to face Utah (9:30 p.m.), which beat TCU 61-58 earlier Thursday.

Wyoming guard Brandon Ewing, who was obviously disappointed in the Senior Day loss to the Lobos just a few days ago, said they had plenty of motivation this time around.

They didn’t want to leave Las Vegas just yet.

“We don't want to go home. We don't want to be back in Laramie (Friday),” Ewing said. “We definitely don't want to do that. On Sunday, we know we're not getting in. Probably call us for the NIT or other tournament. We don't want to do that. We want to be home on Sunday eating popcorn, knowing they're going to call our game. For us to do that, we have to win two more games.”

The Cowboys got 20 points from Ewing, including four 3-pointers and 17 more from senior guard Sean Ogirri, who canned five 3-pointers. As a team, the Cowboys were red hot from beyond the arc, hitting 10 of 19 attempts.

The Cowboys didn’t start the game hit, missing six of their first seven shots and trailing 12-4 before they could respond. New Mexico still had the upper hand and looked as if it would put the game away early. But Wyoming rallied and cut the lead to 33-29 at halftime and the game was on.

The Cowboys too their first lead since 2-0 at 39-37 on a basket by sophomore Djibril Thiam, and after New Mexico coach Steve Alford was hit for a technical foul, the Cowboys led by four.

New Mexico responded with nine straight, but the Cowboys came back with vengeance, using 3-pointers by Ogirri and Ewing and four straight points from Tyson Johnson for a 55-47 lead.

The game turned into a free-throw shooting contest in the final minutes and the Cowboys were able to prevail. The Lobos pulled within four with 38 seconds left, but Ewing and Johnson both hit a pair for free throws in the final seconds to clinch the win.

Thiam, who scored all of his 10 points in the second half, keyed a late run for Wyoming with several dunks, including a three-point play when he was fouled intentionally.

Ewing said the Cowboys just had to get over some early nerves to get going.

“We were so excited to play,” he said. “We watched The Mountain just like everybody else does, and everybody counted us out. They knew New Mexico was going to be in the championship game. We came in this game with a lot of pride. We didn't want to lose this game. We were so nervous at tip-off. I think we missed a lot of easy shots. They made some shots. Once we got the nerves out, we played pretty good.”

Dairese Gary scored 20 points for New Mexico (21-11), which was just 3-of-23 on 3-pointers in a loss that endangers their chances of making the NCAA tournament.

For the Lobos, who were on Cloud Nine after beating Wyoming last Saturday for a share of the league title, it was a tough way to begin the tournament. New Mexico hasn’t won a tourney game since winning the title four years ago.

“You got to give Wyoming and Heath Schroyer credit -- they did a great job,” said New Mexico assistant coach Craig Neal, who was speaking for Alford, who left the arena immediately after the game to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral. “It was a good game. They were well prepared and they played well. You've got to give them a lot of credit.

“I feel very, very unfortunate for our senior players on our team. At this time, you have to win to advance. This is the time of March, and you have to -- if you want to keep playing in March, you have to win games. We've talked about it for a while. So it's a sad ending to a season that we had a lot of success. And I really feel unfortunate for our team.”

The Cowboys will now face a Utah squad that also owned two wins over Wyoming this season.

Ewing said he hopes the Cowboys are saving the best for last.

“To be blessed enough to win this tournament, we got some great players in this league, some great teams, some great coaches,” Ewing said. “If Wyoming was to pull it off, I'd be happy. I told coach, I'd be the first one to hug him back in August if we win it. It's one game at a time. I don't want to look forward to it right now. We got a tough player in Utah, the player of the year, Luke
Nevill. If we're blessed enough to pull that one out, it's down to one more.”