Cowboys to host Boise State

The Wyoming Cowboys will return to the court Saturday night with a matchup of two 19-game winners from a year ago when they host Boise State at 7 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium.

This will mark the 13th all-time meeting between Wyoming and Boise State on the hardwood. Wyoming leads the all-time series 7-5, and is 5-1 against the Broncos in games played in Laramie.

The Cowboys enter Saturday night’s game with some momentum after breaking the all-time Arena-Auditorium scoring record this past Wednesday. The Cowboys improved to 1-1 overall with a 120-73 win over Peru State. Those 120 points scored by the Pokes are just one point shy of the Wyoming all-time scoring record of 121 points, which was set during the 1967-68 season.

Sophomore Afam Muojeke is Wyoming’s leading scorer this season, averaging 22.5 points a game. He enters Saturday’s game only one point shy of scoring his 500th career point.

Redshirt sophomore JayDee Luster turned in one of the greatest assist performances in UW history this past Wednesday night against Peru State. Luster handed out 11 assists and did not commit a turnover. His 11 assists match the fifth most in a single game in UW history. On the year, Luster is averaging 6.5 assists per game.

Three other Cowboys are also averaging double-figures in scoring including junior Djibril Thiam (13.5 ppg), sophomore Thomas Manzano (13.5 ppg) and sophomore A.J. Davis (11.0 ppg).

The Cowboys will be looking to avenge a heartbreaking road loss to Boise State from last year. The Broncos scored a layup at the buzzer, off of an inbound play, to come away with a 86-85 win. Boise State returns three starters and eight letterwinners from that 19-13 team. They ended the 2008-09 season with a loss at Stanford in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational.

Boise State is currently 2-1 overall after opening their season by playing three games in the Montana Basketball Tournament in Missoula, Mont. The Broncos picked up wins over Loyola Marymount (90-87) and North Dakota (75-60) but lost to Montana (95-82).

Four different Broncos enter Saturday’s game averaging double-figures in scoring. They include junior guard La’Shard Anderson (16.7 ppg), junior forward Paul Noonan (15.7 ppg), senior forward Ike Okoye (13.0 ppg) and senior center Kurt Cunningham (12.3 ppg). Okoye, a former Wyoming Cowboy, is the Broncos leading rebounder, averaging 8.3 per contest.

After Saturday’s game, the Cowboys will begin preparing for their first road game of the 2009-10 season. Wyoming will play at Denver on Wednesday. The game will begin at 7 p.m. from DU’s Magness Arena and will be televised by FSN Rocky Mountain.