Falcons end Cowboys season

UW-Air Force game statistics

UW postgame quotes

A rough season came to another disappointing end for the Wyoming Cowboys, as Air Force rolled to a 59-40 win Wednesday in the opening round of the Mountain West Conference tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

The ninth-seeded Falcons (10-20) will face top-seeded and eighth-ranked New Mexico (28-3) on Thursday.

Air Force, which built a 32-21 halftime lead and never trailed in the second half, was led by Grant Parker's 15 points and Michael Lyons' 11.

The eighth-seeded Cowboys (10-21), who got 18 points from freshman Desmar Jackson and 12 from sophomore Adam Waddell, cut their deficit to 47-40 on Waddell's basket with 5 1/2 minutes left. But the Falcons responded with a bucket by Parker and a three-point play by Todd Fletcher that ignited a 12-0 run to end it.

Rebels roll past Cowboys

Wyoming's youth continued to shine, but UNLV's experience proved to be too strong once again, as the Rebels rolled past the Cowboys 74-56 Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Freshman Desmar Jackson paced the Cowboys (10-20, 3-13) with 21 points, including 16 in the second half. Junior Djibril Thiam finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds, with freshman Amath M'Baye added 13 points.

Tre'Von Willis the Rebels with 20 points, nine rebounds and shot 9 of 15 from the field.

UNLV (23-7, 11-5 Mountain West) is the No. 3 seed in next week's conference tournament. The Rebels play sixth-seeded Utah in the final game of the first round on Thursday night.

Chace Stanback had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Rebels.

Wyoming, which has lost nine of its last 10 games, is the No. 8 seed in the tournament and faces No. 9 Air Force in the opening round on Wednesday afternoon.

Cowboys break skid

UW senior Ryan Dermody


UW-AFA game statistics

by Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Any win is a good win for the Wyoming Cowboys these days. A win was extra special on Senior Night for the Cowboys Ryan Dermody.

Dermody hit four 3-pointers in the second half to rally the Cowboys past Air Force 58-49 Tuesday night the Arena-Auditorium.

“It just feels real good,” Dermody said. “It was just good for this team to get a win, obviously. We’ve been struggling. It was our last home game as a team and it was my last home game personally. The guys played really well, especially these two here … Daylen and Djibril had great games. I’m really happy that I ended my home career with a win.”

Dermody is the lone senior for the Cowboys this season and his younger teammates said they wanted to make sure that they would be victorious in his final home game.

“We wanted to do that for our teammate and buddy, Ryan Dermody,” said junior forward Djibril Thiam, who led the Cowboys with 13 points. “It was great.”

Freshman Daylen Harrison has only played with him for one season, but he said tis win was for Dermody.

“I really wanted to get this one for Derm because I lost on my Senior Night, so I know how it feels,” Harrison said. “I didn’t want him to feel it this year.”

Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer added that he was happy for Dermody to play like he did and get the win in his final home game as a Cowboy.

“He’s overcome a lot of things in his career with injuries; he’s overcome even more in his personal life,” Schroyer said. “I’m really, really happy that he was able to do that. He is graduating in May, all of his requirements are completed. That’s what it is all about. You hope your seniors can out like this and I was happy that Derm could do that.”

After missing his four first-half 3-point attempts and going scoreless, Dermody came out on fire and hit 4 of 6 threes -- two to put the Cowboys back in front and two to extend their lead.

Dermody admitted that he had a lot of nerves going before the game because it was an emotional night for him. He credited his teammates for keeping his spirits up after the slow start.

"They said, ‘keep shooting, keep shooting, they are going to fall,'" Dermody said.“It was frustrating in the first half because I didn’t feel like there was a difference between the ones that went in and the ones that didn’t go in. Luckily, I was able to make a couple in the second half.”

With the win, the Cowboys (3-12 MWC, 10-19) also broke an eight-game losing skid.

“It was a much needed win; it was a good win for us,” Schroyer said. “I felt our guys really showed a lot of growth tonight.”

Tom Fow scored 17 points for the Falcons (1-14, 9-19), who clinched last place in the conference with one game to play.

The Cowboys trailed for much of the first half, but closed the gap to 25-23 at halftime, and then rode the hot outside shooting from Dermody to regain the lead early in the second half. A 3-pointer by Dermody and two free throws by Harrison put the Cowboys up by six with 4:28 remaining.

The Falcons then scored five straight points but could get no closer than one with 2:36 to play, as Wyoming closed with a 10-2 run, including 8 of 10 from the free-throw line.

“They made a run, cut it down to one. We called a timeout and executed and never relinquished the lead. I thought that was big, and we made free throws down the stretch,” Schroyer said.

Desmar Jackson was 8 of 9 from the line and scored 12 points for the Cowboys. Harrison added three 3-pointers in the first half and scored a career-high 11 points.

Wyoming, which shot 44 percent from the field (17 of 39), hit 9 of 23 3-pointers, the second most threes the Cowboys have hit in a game this season.

"As simple as it sounds, we made some shots tonight," Schroyer said. "When you make nine threes, that is going to give you a chance to win."

Grant Parker scored 14 points for the Falcons, who cooled off after hitting 8 of their first 12 shots from the field. Air Force shot 43 percent (20 of 47) in the game, including just 5 of 20 3-pointers.
The 49 points were the fewest allowed by Wyoming this season.

“Give them credit, they played good half-court defense when they needed to,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “They are very capable capable shooting the three as well as they did.”

Poor start haunts Cowboys again

by Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Another slow start spelled doom for the Wyoming Cowboys.

Against No. 16 BYU, the Cowboys could afford a bad start, but that's exactly what happened in the Cougars 85-63 win Saturday at the Arena-auditorium.

Wyoming missed its first eight shots from the field and trailed 10-0 before finally getting on the board.

“I think a lot of it has to do with BYU,” Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said of his team's slow start. “They did a nice job defensively. When you struggle to score, it affects other things.”

Freshman Tyler Haws and Jimmer Fredette both scored 22 points for the Cougars (10-2 MWC, 25-3), who led comfortably the entire way to stay within one-half game of first-place New Mexico. After Wyoming cut a 14-point lead to eight with 10 minutes left, BYU regained control down the stretch.

“I thought they (Wyoming) did a good job of controlling the tempo,” BYU coach Dave Rose said. “We did a much better job in the second half of playing possession to possession. We did a good job offensively and a good job of guarding them … down the stretch we did a really good job of finishing it off.”

Freshman Desmar Jackson scored a career-high 26 points for Wyoming (2-11, 9-18), which has now lost seven straight games and 10 of its last 11.

BYU led 40-28 at halftime, only to see Wyoming cut the lead to eight with 10 minutes remaining. But Jonathan Tavernari's 3-pointer and Charles Abouo's dunk ignited a 16-3 run and the Cougars cruised from there.

“Hats off to BYU, they are very good and very talented,” Schroyer said. “They really stretch you and they can beat you in many ways. We had a chance when we cut it to eight, but like a really good team, they rallied and went on a 5-0 run and that was it.”

Haws, who scored a career-high 24 points in the first meeting with Wyoming, was just 6 of 15 from the field, but a perfect 10 of 10 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed eight rebounds. Fredette scored 15 of his points in the second half.

“Tyler was terrific; he was on attack,” Rose said. “This was a game where they really run at Jimmer and Jimmer did a great job of finding the open guy and making the right decision with the ball.”

Tavernari scored 17 points for the Cougars and Jackson Emery added 10. BYU shot just 43 percent from the field (29-of-66), but was 20 of 24 from the free-throw line.

Djibril Thiam scored 12 points for Wyoming. which ended up shooting 41 percent from the field (22-of-54), but gave up 19 points off of 12 turnovers.

The Cowboys return to action next Saturday at Utah.

Lobos roll past Cowboys in The Pit

A slow by the Cowboys start never really got any better as No. 12 New Mexico earned another lop-sided win over Wyoming in The Pit.

The Lobos, 10-2 MWC, 24-3) ran out to as 17-point halftime lead and never looked back, leading by as much as 31 in the game before stopping the Cowboys 83-61 in Albuquerque.

“I think they're probably playing as good as anybody in the country,” Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said. “When a team wins eight straight games in the league, especially this league and this year; it shows that they're a very good team. And this venue is great. It's hard playing here, but you tip your hat to the fans, the atmosphere, and everything this place is. It's the real deal."

Darington Hobson had 20 points and 10 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season, and New Mexico's Steve Alford won his 300th game as a Division I coach.

“This was a great game,” Alford said. “Any time you come off the road this is the biggest game because you haven't played here in awhile. You get a little complacent because you think you just win because you come back home. I really appreciate the crowd. I just appreciate what our fans do. They wear red, they get after it and they did a good job of welcoming this team back."

Phillip McDonald scored 14 points and Roman Martinez had 13 for New Mexico (24-3, 10-2 Mountain West), which has won 10 straight - all in conference. The last time the Lobos did that in league play, Michael Cooper was suiting up during the 1977-78 season.

“We did what we do, 23 assists, eight turnovers,” Alford said. “We just share the basketball and our defense is getting better and better. Overall, I was extremely pleased. You got everybody in, everybody gets to play, everybody scores. Those are always fun nights."

The Lobos scored the first 11 points and raced to a 22-8 lead midway through the first half after consecutive 3-pointers by Jamal Fenton and Nate Garth. Hobson added a nice no-look pass to McDonald for a layup that put New Mexico up 26-10.

The Cowboys cut the deficit to 29-18 after New Mexico's defense went soft and allowed two easy layups by Thiam with 2:58 before halftime. Alford took a timeout to chew out his players, and the Lobos answered with an 8-0 burst that included two 3-pointers by Martinez.

"For the first couple minutes of the game, we could tell what they were doing. They were going to put Darington Hobson and Phillip McDonald on the block and isolate those guys on Desmar Jackson and Arthur Bouedo,” Schroyer said. “Those guys struggled guarding in the post and we knew we'd get into foul trouble. The other part of it was that we wanted to slow them down and shorten the game. I thought it was actually pretty good for us. We went back into a man-to-man in the second half and did some nice things."

The Cowboys return home Saturday to host No. 15 BYU at 4 p.m.

TCU knocks down Cowboys again

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Close is about as good as it gets for the Wyoming Cowboys these days, as TCU had enough at the end to hold on for a 76-68 win Saturday in the Arena-Auditorium.

The Horned Frogs (4-7 MWC, 12-14) used a 14-2 run to end the first half and never trailed again in the game. The Cowboys missed out on a golden opportunity to have a chance to stay out of the MWC tournament play-in game with a win over the Horned Frogs, but will now have to upset somebody down the road to avoid that game. Wyoming, which has lost five straight, is now 2-9 and 9-16.

“I thought we did some good things, but I tip my hat to TCU,” Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said “They really made some tough shots down the stretch and that was the difference.”

Nikola Cerina scored 21 points for TCU, which earned its second close win this season over Wyoming this season.. TCU beat the 'Pokes 62-59 in Fort Worth.

“We handled the pressure pretty well the whole night,” TCU coach Jim Christian said. “We took care of the basketball, and then had a guy in Nikola who could score on top of the basket, which we haven't had. He's starting to emerge, and it's becoming a weapon for us.”

Wyoming led 29-25, but managed just two points in the final five minutes of the first half, as the Horned Frogs led 39-31 at the break.

The Cowboys chipped away in the second half and cut the lead to one on a pair of occasions, but could never catch TCU. Leading 65-64, Edvinas Ruzgas hit a 3-pointer and Cerina added two free throws with 1:33 to play to put the Horned Frogs up by six. Greg Hill would add another 3-pointer with 52 seconds left to seal the win.

“We made some timely shots,” Christian said.

Ronnie Moss scored 15 points for TCU, followed by Hill with 12 and Ruzgas with 10. TCU shot 51 percent from the field (27 of 53), while hitting 8 of 17 3-pointers.

Cerina, who scored 14 points in the first half, was 6 of 12 from the field and 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. His inside presence opened things up for the Horned Frogs outside game.

“When Nikola's a weapon, it shrinks the defense,” Christian said. “That brings a guy like Ed (Ruzgas) into play. He's not a guy who is going to create for himself, so he has to have somebody create for him.”

Freshman Desmar Jackson tied a career high with 22 points for Wyoming, while fellow frosh Amath M'Baye scored a career-high 14 points. Djibril Thiam and Arthur Bouedo scored 10 each for the Cowboys.

Although the Cowboys shot 46 percent from the field in the game, their last field goal came at the 5-minute mark. Wyoming showed marked improvement from the free-throw line, hitting 27 of 35 (77 percent).

“I was happy with the way we got to the free-throw line and the way we made free throws today,” Schroyer said.

Still, it's another loss that Schroyer and the young cowboys will have to deal with as they prepare for New Mexico Wednesday at The Pit, and BYU at home next Saturday.

“It's hard to lose, and I hate it as much as anyone,” Schroyer said. “But I told our kids that when you're young, you have to learn something from every game and work to get better from every experience.”

Cowboys look to break skid

After spending their past two games on the road, the Wyoming Cowboys will return home, hosting TCU Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium. The game will be televised live by The Mtn.

The Cowboys (9-15 overall and 2-8 in the Mountain West Conference) will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak. TCU (11-14 overall, 3-7 in the MWC) enters Saturday’s game looking to rebound from a home loss to Utah this past Wednesday.

Saturday’s game will have major MWC Tournament implications, as a Wyoming win would place the Cowboys in a tie with TCU for seventh place in the league standings. With a win, the Pokes would hold the tiebreaker with TCU.

Earlier this season, the Cowboys traveled to Fort Worth and erased a big first-half deficit before falling to the Frogs, 62-59. The Cowboys had an opportunity to extend the game, but missed three field goals over the final 20 seconds of the game.

Freshman Desmar Jackson has emerged as one of the top freshmen in the MWC. In fact, he is currently the MWC’s fifth best scoring freshman with an average of 9.5 points per game. Over UW’s last five games, Jackson has really stepped up and has averaged 16.6 points a game.

Sophomore Adam Waddell is the Pokes top scorer and rebounder, with the absence of Afam Muojeke. Waddell is currently averaging 10.4 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. He ranks No. 5 in the MWC in rebounding.

Redshirt sophomore JayDee Luster is the Pokes’ leading assist man. He is currently averaging 4.7 a game and ranks No. 3 in the MWC. He has handed out at least four assists in nine of UW’s 10 MWC games. He is also averaging 8.3 points per league game.

The TCU roster features three players who are averaging double figures in scoring. They are led by sophomore guard Ronnie Moss (14.4 ppg), senior forward Zvonko Buljan (12.3 ppg) and senior guard Edvinas Ruzgas (11.3 ppg). Buljan is the Frogs’ leading rebounder with 8.9 per game. Moss leads the Frogs with a league best 6.5 assists per game.

Aztecs roll by Cowboys

UW-SDSU final stats

SAN DIEGO -- The Wyoming Cowboys found out the hard way that a good first half isn’t near enough against the likes of San Diego State, as the Aztecs rolled in the second half en route to an 88-57 win at Viejas Arena.

The Cowboys (2-8 MWC, 9-15), led by six on a pair of occasions in the first half and were still up a point with 5:14 to play before the break before the Aztecs went on a late run. San Diego State outscored Wyoming 11-2 down the stretch for an eight-point halftime lead.

It was all Aztecs and then some in the second half, as they out-scored the Cowboys 49-26 in the second half. San Diego State is now 6-4 in league play and 17-7 on the year.

Freshman Desmar Jackson had the hot hand early for the Cowboys with nine first-half points, as he finished with 14 in the game. The Cowboys shot well in the opening stanza, shooting 48 percent, but struggled down the stretch, hitting just 29 percent of their shots in the second half.

Junior Djibril Thiam led the way for Wyoming with 15 points. The Cowboys also turned the ball over 20 times in the game, with the Aztecs taking advantage, scoring 30 points off of those miscues. Wyoming also once again struggled from the free-throw line, hitting just 13 of 24 attempts.

Fabulous freshman Kawhi Leonard led all scorers and was one of five Aztecs to score in double figures with a career-high 26 points. Leonard, who scored 25 points in the 85-83 loss to Wyoming earlier in Laramie, was 10 of 14 from the field and also grabbed eight rebounds.

Chase Tapley finished with 14 points for the Aztecs, followed by Tyrone Shelley and Kelvin Davis with 12 each and Billy White with 10 points. San Diego State shot 52 percent from the field in the game (33 of 63).

The Cowboys will look to break out of its four-game skid Saturday at 1:30 p.m. when they host TCU.
　

Cowboys look to end skid at SDSU

The Wyoming Cowboys will look for their first road breakthrough of the season at San Diego State. The game will begin at 8:30 p.m. (MT) at Viejas Arena and will be televised live by The Mtn.

After beating San Diego State earlier this year in Laramie, 85-83, Wyoming will be looking for its first season sweep of the Aztecs since 2006-07. The Cowboys erased a 17-point deficit in that game and made six 3-pointers over the final 4:12.

The Cowboys, 9-14 overall and 2-7 in the Mountain West Conference, are looking to snap a three-game losing streak by winning their first road game of the season.

San Diego State saw a modest two-game winning streak end last Saturday at New Mexico. The Aztecs battled the Lobos before falling in overtime, 88-86. The Aztecs are currently 16-7 overall and 5-4 in the MWC. They have won four of their last six overall, and are 10-1 at home this season.

Sophomore Adam Waddell recorded his second career double-double last Saturday at Colorado State. He is currently averaging 10.7 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. He ranks No. 5 in the MWC in rebounding.

True freshman Desmar Jackson has been hot for the Cowboys over the past four games. In fact, he has averaged 17.3 points a game during that stretch. He is currently the fifth best scoring freshman in the MWC with 9.3 points a game.

Redshirt sophomore JayDee Luster, who is a San Diego native, is the Pokes’ leading assist man. He is currently averaging 4.6 and ranks No. 4 in the MWC. He has handed out at least four assists in eight of UW’s nine MWC games. He is also averaging 8.9 points per league game.

Four of San Diego State’s starters are scoring in double figures this season. The Aztecs are led by freshman forward Kawhi Leonard and his 11.8 points a game. He is followed by junior guard D.J. Gay (10.8 ppg), junior forward Malcolm Thomas (10.7 ppg) and junior forward Billy White (10.4 ppg).

Leonard is nearly averaging a double-double, as he is also adding an MWC best 9.6 rebounds per game. The Aztecs are one of the best rebounding teams in the MWC, as they rank No. 1 in opponents’ rebounding average (30.8 pg) and No. 2 in rebounding average (38.3 pg).

Series Notes
Wyoming leads the all-time series 37-29. They have posted a record of 11-18 in San Diego. Of the last 37 meetings, 26 have been decided by 10 points or less. The last time the Cowboys won in San Diego was during the 2006-07 season.

Rams thump Cowboys again

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Wyoming’s miseries continued while Colorado State’s fortunes are looking up. The combination was another CSU win, 80-64 Saturday in Moby Arena.

With the win, the Rams (5-4 MWC, 14-9) completed their first regular-season sweep of the Cowboys since the 1999-2000 season.

The loss was the third straight for Wyoming, which fell to 2-7 and 9-14. It was a bad week overall, as the Cowboys fell by 28 points on Wednesday at home to UNLV and on Thursday, lost sophomore A.J. Davis, who left the program.

Travis Franklin scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half as the Rams enjoyed a 10-17 point lead for much of the game. Franklin was 4 for 8 from the floor and 12 of 19 from the free-throw line. Andy Ogide added 13 points and 11 rebounds for Colorado State, which has won three of its last four.

Dorian Green and Andre McFarland had 11 points each.

Adam Waddell and Desmar Jackson had 16 points each for Wyoming, which has lost all seven of its road games this season.

The Rams shot a remarkable 8-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half and went into the locker room with a 43-26 halftime lead. Twenty-one of CSU’s first half points came from its bench, which finished the game with 27.

In the second half, the pace slowed, as a combined 35 fouls were called. A steal and a dunk by Jackson cut the Rams’ lead to 10, 57-47, with 8:27 left to play in the game. But that would be the closest the Cowboys would get for the remainder of the contest. The Rams shot 17-of-24 from the line after intermission, which was enough to keep the Cowboys at bay.

Despite 10 rebounds from Waddell, CSU also outrebounded the Cowboys, 42-26.

The Cowboys will look to break out of its slump Wednesday night at San Diego State, before returning home Saturday to host TCU.

Rebels dominate lifeless Cowboys

John McKnight photo
Wyoming junior Djibril Thiam battles three UNLV players for the rebound Wednesday night.

by Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Evidently, early signs mean little to the Wyoming Cowboys.

Sophomore A.J. Davis took the opening tip in for a layup, but that was the lone highlight for Wyoming, as UNLV rolled to a 78-50 win Wednesday night in the Arena-Auditorium. It was the worst home loss for the Cowboys since the 1959 season and the worst ever in the A-A since its inception in 1982.

After that opening bucket by Davis, the Rebels (6-2 MWC, 18-4) dominated action the rest of the way, leading by as much as 30 in the second half.

“My hat is off to UNLV, they played very well and are a good basketball team,” Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said. “We didn't play very well and that is usually a case for getting your butt kicked, and that's what happened.”

Ryan Dermody led the Cowboys (2-6, 9-13) with 12 points. Desmar Jackson scored 11 points and Amath M'Baye added 10 for the Cowboys, who shot just 28.6 percent from the field (14 of 49), as well as missing 14 free throws.

“You're not going to beat anybody when you shoot 28 percent from the floor and 54 percent from the free-throw line,” Schroyer said. “You're not going to beat anybody in this league, let alone an NCAA Tournament, Top 25 team.”

The lop-sided win surprised UNLV head coach Lon Kruger.

“Wyoming has been protecting its home court really well,” Kruger said. “We came in expecting it to be fight right down the wire.”

It wasn't much of a fight, as UNLV took control early in the game and opened up a double-digit lead on a pair of 3-pointers by Oscar Bellfield and baskets by Justin Hawkins and Chace Stanback. The Rebels led 40-27 at halftime.

Matt Shaw, who went into the game averaging 6.7 points per contest, was 7 of 9 from the field, scoring a game-high 16 points, which tied his career high.

“Darris (Santee) did a lot of good things; Matt came in and did a lot of good things,” Kruger said. “The big guys continue to share that role well. I think Matt got a lot of good rebounds.”

Trailing 52-29, the Cowboys scored eight straight to cut the lead to 15, but could get no closer as UNLV outscored the Wyoming 26-13 the rest of the way.

Tre'Von Willis scored 15 points for the Rebels and Stanback added 12. UNLV shot 53 percent from the field (32 of 60) and dominated in the paint, outscoring Wyoming 32-16.

"We had trouble guarding them off of the dribble," Schroyer said. "This is a tough league, several teams are playing well. We obviously have to play better."

The Cowboys return to action Saturday in Fort Collins against CSU (7 p.m.).

Cowboys to host UNLV

The Wyoming Cowboys will look to close the first half of the Mountain West Conference season on a winning note, hosting UNLV Runnin’ Rebels at 8 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium. It will be televised live by The Mtn.

The Cowboys return home after a tough road loss at Air Force this past Saturday. With that loss, the Pokes fell to 9-12 overall and 2-5 in the MWC.

UNLV has won three consecutive MWC games and five of their last six league games. They are currently 17-4 overall and 5-2 in the conference. The Runnin’ Rebels are receiving votes in both national top-25 polls. Earlier this season, they peaked with a No. 18/17 national ranking on December 7.

With UW’s two leading scorers out at Air Force, Desmar Jackson stepped up in a big way. The true freshman led the Pokes by scoring 21 points for the second consecutive game.

Sophomore A.J. Davis is UW’s third leading scorer with 10.4 ppg and junior Djibril Thiam is also averaging double figures with 10.1 ppg.

Sophomore Afam Muojeke (16.8 ppg) is out for the remainder of the season and sophomore Adam Waddell (10.8 ppg) missed last Saturday with a sprained ankle. Waddell’s status for Wednesday’s game will be a game-time decision.

UNLV is led by junior guard Tre’Von Willis, who is the second leading scorer in the MWC with 17.4 ppg. Sophomore forward Chace Stanback is adding 10.4 ppg. Stanback is also UNLV’s top rebounder (5.4 rpg), while sophomore guard Oscar Bellfield leads the team in assists (4.9 apg). Junior guard Derrick Jasper (6.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.9 apg) will miss the next few weeks with a knee injury.

The Cowboys will be looking for consecutive wins over the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels for the first time since 2003. The Cowboys won the last meeting in the series, 77-68, last February in Laramie. That win broke a four-game UNLV winning streak. The last time the Cowboys were able to string consecutive wins together over UNLV was between the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. During those two seasons, Wyoming beat UNLV four consecutive times.

UNLV leads the overall series 24-14, but Wyoming has posted a record of 11-6 in Laramie.

Falcons stop underhanded Cowboys

UW-Air Force game statistics

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Recent losses by the Wyoming Cowboys were certainly Air Force’s gain.

Led by Evan Washington, the Falcons broke a 22-game conference losing streak with a 70-63 win over Wyoming Saturday.

Along with leading scorer Afam Muojeke out for the season, the Cowboys were also without the junior post Adam Waddell, who sat out the game an ankle injury suffered while scoring 13 points and grabbing 22 rebounds in a win over Utah on Wednesday.

“It's a tough pill to swallow, but my hat's off to Jeff (Reynolds)," Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said. "We came here and thought our game plan was pretty good, even though (Air Force) went on a roll there and knocked down a couple threes against the zone we played. I think that was the difference."

The win was the first conference victory for the Falcons (9-11, 1-6 Mountain West Conference) since March 5, 2008, and also snapped a six-game losing streak. They held the Cowboys (9-12, 2-5) to 5-of-22 3-point shooting in the win and scored nine of their final 13 points from the free-throw line.

"We made free throws when we needed to today," Reynolds said. "We didn't shoot the ball well in the first half, but in the second half, we shot it the way we do in practice. We got some shots at the rim, but their length really bothered us."

The Falcons used a 16-4 second-half run to take a 49-42 lead with 8:42 remaining, but the Cowboys responded with eight straight points to take a 50-49 lead with 5:56 left. The lead would be their last.

Air Force hit 7 of 11 3-pointers in the second half en route to the victory and took the lead for good on a Washington jumper with 5:35 remaining. Washington scored eight points in the final 1:21.

Michael Lyons had 16 points for Air Force and Grant Parker added 12.

Freshman Desmar Jackson led Wyoming with 21 points, followed by freshman Amath M'Baye had 11 and sophomore JayDee Luster and junior Djibril Thiam with 10 each.

Air Force began the game with an 11-2 run after hitting its first three 3-pointers, but hit just one of its next 11 threes. Wyoming capitalized with a 10-0 run midway through the first half to take the lead and led 29-26 at halftime.

The Cowboys will look to get back on the winning side Wednesday when they host UNLV (7 p.m.) in the Arena-Auditorium.

Cowboys come up big

John McKnight photo
Wyoming freshman Desmar Jackson drives on Utah's Jason Washburn Wednesday night.

by Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

No Afam Muojeke, no problem for the Wyoming Cowboys Wednesday against Utah.

Desmar Jackson scored 21 points as Wyoming rallied past Utah 75-69 in the Arena-Auditorium, breaking a three-game losing skid.

The Cowboys (2-4 MWC, 9-11) lost a 12-point lead in the second half and trailed by three with three minutes remaining, but outscored Utah 11-2 down the stretch.

It was the first game for the Cowboys without Muojeke (the team's leading scorer at 16.8 points a game), who is out for the season after injuring his knee last week against BYU.

“Losing Afam, that’s tough,” Wyoming sophomore Adam Waddell said. “But we all know that we have enough weapons on the team to win games like this. Desmar stepped up big tonight. He didn’t play like a freshman. He’s been on our team for a while now, he knows what we are doing. He came out ready to go. That’s what we need in every game, from every one on our team, to try to fill the void that we lost with Afam.”

Jackson, who was 7 of 15 from the field, came off the bench and scored 14 points over his season average, with several other Cowboys picking up the scoring slack.

“I just came in and played; I knew my role,” Jackson said. “Coach told me to keep attacking the hoop; I'm good at attacking, so I just kept attacking and getting fouls.”

Djibril Thiam scored 16 points for the Cowboys, seven above his average and Waddell had his first double-double of his career with 13 points and 22 rebounds. Sophomore A.J. Davis, who started for Muojeke, scored 10 for Wyoming.

“Coach wanted me to be more aggressive,” Thiam said. “I have been working on attacking the basket in practice. We knew they had big men blocking shots. We just talked about going through them, instead of trying to go around them.”　

Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said his team grew up Wednesday night.

“We had so many players contribute. Our kids are a gritty bunch," Schroyer said. "When Utah went up by three, that was when I thought our kids really stuck together and fought. It was a huge win for us.”

Wyoming went into the game as one of the top shooting teams in the nation in free throws attempted and free throws made, but were just 23 off 44 from the line in the game. The Cowboys, however, were 7 of 9 in the final 46 seconds to secure the win.

Leading 35-32 at halftime, Wyoming built its lead to 46-34 with 14 minutes to play, but Utah used a 9-0 run to get back in the game. Carlon Brown, who scored a career-high 31 points, was the catalyst of the rally, scoring 22 points in the second half, including 11 of the team's 14 points in one stretch.

Waddell scored on a three-point play to put the Cowboys back up 69-67 with 46 seconds left. Utah turned the ball over three times in the final 30 seconds and Jackson hit four free throws late to secure the win.

“They came back and made that run, but we were able to come back,” Waddell said. “I think we changed our defensive scheme up a little bit to not let them get ball screens, and I think that threw them off a little bit. We made the plays that we needed to.”

Waddell's 22 rebounds came in a game in which he left the court for five minutes and went into the locker room afteer rolling his ankle. His 22 rebounds are the second most in A-A history (27 for Reggie Slater). Waddell has also now tied the MWC record with Jason Smith of CSU and Louis Amundson of UNLV.

“I’ve never had that many rebounds in any basketball game that I have played,” Waddell said with a big grin. “It feels good. I think it is also my first career double-double. I wished it wouldn’t just be my first at this point, but I tried to play hard and I really wanted to win this game. It feels good.”

Marshall Henderson scored 13 and Jay Watkins added 12 for the Utes, who had 19 turnovers, which resulted in 22 Wyoming points.

“You can't have 19 turnovers and miss 12 free throws and expect to win on the road,” Utah coach Jim Boylen said. “We have to get better; we have to keep growing.”

The Cowboys will face Air Force Saturday in Colorado Springs.

Cowboys to host Utes

by Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

The Wyoming Cowboys A-A (After Afam) season begins Wednesday night in the A-A (Arena-Auditorium), when the Cowboys host Utah at 7 p.m.

Afam Muojeke, last year's Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, was second in the league in scoring at 17.9 points a game before seeing his season come to an end last Wednesday against BYU. Muojeke ruptured the patellar tendon in his left knee.

After dropping their last three Mountain West Conference games, the Cowboys will enter Wednesday with an 8-11 overall record and a 1-4 conference mark. Utah is currently 10-9 overall and 3-2 in league games.

The Cowboys are returning to action after having this past weekend off, which was their first off weekend since taking a six-day break during the Christmas holiday.

Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer thought things went "fine" in the first practices in preparation for the Utes.

"I thought everybody had a great mindset and went after it. Business as usual," Schroyer said. "Obviously, not having Afam has been talked about a lot, but there is a lot of season left, there's a lot of basketball to be played. This is a very gutty group."

As of Monday Schroyer hadn't settled on a starter for Muojeke, but said it would likely be between sophomore A.J. Davis or freshman Desmar Jackson.

"They have to really step up and give us good minutes, and I think both of those guys will," Schroyer said. "I think Ryan Dermody will play more and Daylen Harrison will get into the rotation. The biggest thing they have to understand is, it has to be a collective effort. It's not just one person, it has to be two or three guys."

About Utah

Utah is led by three players who are scoring in double figures. Junior guard Carlon Brown leads the team in scoring at 12.9 points per game and is followed by freshman guard Marshall Henderson (11.2 ppg) and senior guard Luka Drca (10.9 ppg). Senior forward Kim Tillie leads the Runnin’ Utes in rebounding with 6.1 per game and sophomore center David Foster leads the team and is tied for fourth in the nation with 4.4 blocks per game.

Schroyer said the Utes space the floor as well as anybody.

"I think their post guys are getting better and better," he said. "I think Carlon Brown is really good, especially in transition. I think Darca is really good because he can hit threes; he's so darn big and he can see over people. They are good. I also think they are very good defensively. They don't give up easy baskets. They are big and long and very active."

Wednesday’s game will not be televised, but can be heard on the radio through the 25-station Cowboy Sports Network beginning with a 6:30 p.m. pregame show.

UW-Utah series

The Wyoming-Utah series dates back to Jan. 23, 1925, when Wyoming defeated Utah 31-29 in Salt Lake City. This week’s meeting will be the 167th meeting in basketball, with Wyoming trailing 74-92. In Laramie, the Pokes have posted a record of 48-32.

The recent series has been dominated by the home teams. Wyoming has won 10 of the last 14 meetings in Laramie. Utah has won 12 of the last 14 games in Salt Lake City.

Rankings

The Cowboys currently rank second in the nation in made free throws and fifth in attempts. Through their first 19 games of 2009-10, the Pokes have made 409 of 570 free throws, which is 71.8 percent. Last season, Wyoming led the nation in makes and ranked second in attempts.

In this week’s NCAA statistics, the Wyoming Cowboys are ranked No. 11 in the nation with 9.7 steals per game. That average is also the best in the Mountain West Conference.

Muojeke out for the rest of season

UW sophomore Afam Muojeke will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

When it rains, it pours for the Wyoming Cowboys, even in the middle of January.

The Cowboys lost their leading scorer, sophomore wing Afam Muojeke, for the season after he ruptured the patellar tendon in his left knee in the first half of UW’s game at BYU on Wednesday night.

Muojeke is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday.

“First and foremost, I feel really bad for Afam,” Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said. “In the last couple of games, especially against San Diego State and TCU. He was getting his offensive flow back.”

Muojeke was averaging 17.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.7 steals a game entering the BYU game. He ranked second in the Mountain West Conference in scoring and fourth in steals. He had scored 15 or more points in 13 of 15 games prior to the injury.

Last season, Muojeke was selected as the MWC’s Freshman of the Year. With 454 points, he broke the conference’s all-time scoring record for freshmen. He was also selected as an Honorable Mention All-Freshman by Collegehoops.net.

Muojeke has scored in double figures in 71.4 percent of his career games (35 of 49 games). He has scored 20 or more points 11 times.

Muojeke injured his knee when he was chasing BYU’s Tyler Haws, as Haws was going in for a layup. He played just eight minutes and did not score.

“As far as I now, it happened when he planted,” Schroyer said.

It was pretty obviously, especially to those who watched the game and the Cowboys themselves, that the injury was serious. A MRI conformed that Thursday afternoon.

“I think everyone knew from Wednesday that he was going to be out for a while,” Schroyer said. “This is a very resilient group. I really like this group, they are young and they have some spunk to them. It said a lot when Afam was on crutches in the last 10 minutes of the first half and we went out after halftime and competed hard.”

The Cowboys hung tough with the No. 13/14 Cougars for much of the first half and trailed by just five points early in the second half, before BYU used a 12-0 run to pull away for the 81-66 win.

Because Muojeke had previously played in 15 games -- he injured his knee early in the season against Denver and missed three games -- Schroyer said a redshirt year was pretty much out of the question.

“We expect full recovery, and he will be ready to go to start next year,” Schroyer said.

It’s been a tough year for the young Cowboys, who were coming off a 19-win season last year. Wyoming opened the season with disappointing loses to South Dakota State, Denver, Hampton and Monmouth, fighting off previous injuries to Muojeke, sophomore post Adam Waddell and sophomore point guard JayDee Luster.

The Cowboys, 8-11 overall, have started league play 1-4, with a three-point loss at TCU and a two-point loss at home to New Mexico.

“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason,” Schroyer said. “Sometimes you don’t understand that reason, but we’ll be better from it as a basketball team and move forward as a basketball program. Those things are a part of sports. There’s no question that it has rained a few times here.”

Without the scoring and leadership of Muojeke, the Cowboys will need several players stepping up. Schroyer looks for sophomore A.J. Davis and freshmen Desmar Jackson and Daylen Harrison to see added minutes on the floor.

“If you look at the forest among the trees, it is a chance for a lot of these young guys to get valuable experience and get thrown into the fire, and that‘s a good thing,” Schroyer said. “It is tough for Afam and I feel horrible for him. He was a leader in a lot of ways on the basketball court. We’ll just circle the wagons and rally the troops and win basketball games.”

“Schroyer said that at this time of the season, there will be no major overhaul offensively or defensively.

“You can tweak some things and make some adjustments,” he said. “Our job is to go out and prepare and try to win some basketball games and that’s what we’ll do.”

It will be a challenge for the Wyoming coaching staff, to say the least.

“This is a very resilient group and there is a lot of character on this team,” Schroyer added. “When times like this come, they have to rally around it. Obviously, injuries are a part of sports. It is our job to move forward as coaches and players and make sure that Afam gets the best medical treatment and he rehabs his butt off.”

While it is the same knee that Muojeke injured earlier (tendinitis), Schroyer doesn’t think it played a part in the Wednesday’s injury.

“The only thing is, it is just the same knee,” he said.

Schroyer said he feels that Muojeke is handling the situation as well as expected.

“Obviously, he is doing as good as you can under the circumstances,” Schroyer said. “He looked me in the eye and said, ‘Coach, let’s get this done. I’m going to rehab my butt off and be ready to go and be better than ever next year.’”

The Cowboys don’t return to action until Wednesday when they host Utah.
　　

Cougars too tough in win over Wyoming

UW-BYU boxscore

PROVO, Utah -- Wyoming did a decent job on Jimmer Fredette, the Mountain West Conference’s leading scorer, but saw freshman Tyler Haws go off for a career-high 24 points, as No. 13/14 BYU stopped the Cowboys 81-66 Wednesday night in the Marriott Center.

It was the 14th straight win for BYU and the 10th straight win against the Cowboys. The Cougars are 19-1 for the first time since opening the 1987-88 season 20-1.

Jackson Emery scored 15 points and Fredette added 11 points for BYU (4-0 Mountain West). Fredette went into the game leading the MWC at 19.7 points a game.

Adam Waddell had 15 points to lead Wyoming (8-11, 1-4), which has lost three straight. Arthur Bouedo added 13 points for the Cowboys. Wyoming’s leading scorer, Afam Muojeke (17.9 ppg), went down with a knee injury early in the game and he did not return. The extent of Muojeke’s injury is not known at this time.

“I thought we played pretty well tonight," Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said. "I was really proud of our guys; tonight wasn’t a let down. We had a hard time attacking the zone in the second half and couldn’t get any balls to go in.”

BYU forced 17 turnovers, out-rebounded Wyoming 40-33 and tied the second-longest winning streak in school history -- three short of the record, also set in 1987-88.

“I was really pleased with our team tonight," BYU coach Dave Rose tonight. "Wyoming did a good job of taking us out of what we normally like to do, but we made some adjustments that helped us. Our zone was good and we rebounded well, so I’m happy with our performance and ready to move onto what’s next."

The Cougars led by eight at halftime, then ran off 12 straight early in the second half and led by double figures the rest of the way.

The Cowboys, one of the top free throw shooting teams in the country, continued to struggle, making just 14 of 26 attempts.

“We shot ourselves in the foot with our missed free throws," Schroyer said.

Haws, who had scored 20 points twice this season for his previous career high, hit 8 off from the field and 4 of 5 3-pointers.

“I think he is going to be the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year with the way he is playing," Schroyer said. "He is a very underrated rebounder and he can constantly knock down the threes. He reminds me a lot of Travis Hansen.”

BYU opened the second half on a 15-5 run, holding the Cowboys to two field goals in the first seven minutes. The Cowboys struggled to get shots and missed the few they got as BYU scored 12 straight, starting with a 3-pointer by Haws early in the half.

JayDee Luster got Wyoming back within 64-54 on a layup with 7:30 left and had a chance to cut the margin to single digits but missed the foul shot. The Cougars survived the rally and quickly put the game away.

“I think this is the best team I have seen in a long time," Schroyer said of BYU. "They are very unselfish and play with a lot of team unity. They are a very good basketball team. I think they have the potential to make it through the first few rounds of the NCAA Tournament this year.”

Wyoming will now have a few days off before returning to action on Jan. 27 at home against Utah.

Cowboys have tall task at BYU

The Wyoming Cowboys hit the road Wednesday night, as they travel to Provo, Utah, to take on No. 14/13 ranked BYU. The game will begin at 6 p.m. from BYU’s Marriott Center, where the Cougars have won 16 consecutive home games.

Wednesday’s game will be televised by The Mtn. with Tim Neverett doing play-by-play and Joe Cravens providing color commentary. The game can also be heard via radio on the 25-station Cowboy Sports Network.

The Cowboys (8-10 overall, 1-3 in the Mountain West Conference) will be looking to snap a two-game skid. After posting a 17-point comeback win over San Diego State on Jan. 9, the Pokes have dropped two straight to TCU and New Mexico.

In MWC games, Wyoming is led by Afam Muojeke and his 18.8 points per game average. Adam Waddell is also playing very well and is averaging 12.5 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. UW’s point guard, JayDee Luster, has increased his scoring average to 10.3 ppg and his assist average to 5.8 apg.

BYU (18-1, 3-0 in the MWC) is currently riding a 13-game winning streak that dates back to their only loss of the season at Utah State on Dec. 2. This week, the Cougars reached their highest national rankings of the season and are currently No. 14 in the AP Poll and No. 13 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll. Those mark their highest national rankings since the 1987-88 season.

BYU is led by junior guard Jimmer Fredette, who is leading the MWC with 19.9 points a game. Three other Cougars are scoring in double figures including junior guard Jackson Emery (12.9), freshman guard Tyler Haws (11.5) and senior forward Jonathan Tavernari (10.3). BYU is coached by Dave Rose, who has posted a 115-35 (.641) record in his five years with the Cougars.
Wyoming, BYU series

The Wyoming-BYU series is a long and rich one. The two schools first played each other in basketball on Dec. 16, 1929, in Provo. This season marks the 81st anniversary of that first meeting.

Wednesday’s meeting will be the 171st meeting in basketball, with Wyoming trailing in the series 69-101. In games played in Provo, BYU leads 65-14. The last time the Cowboys won in Provo was during the 2004-05 season.
Stealing the ball

In this week’s NCAA statistics, the Wyoming Cowboys are ranked No. 13 in the nation with 9.8 steals per game. That average is the best in the Mountain West Conference.

Muojeke second in scoring in MWC

Afam Muojeke is currently ranked second in the Mountain West Conference in scoring with a 17.9 points per game average.
Double figures

Thus far this season, nine different Cowboys have scored in double-figures -- Muojeke (13), Waddell (9), A.J. Davis (8), Djibril Thiam (8), Desmar Jackson (7), Ryan Dermody (3), Luster (2), Arthur Bouedo (1) and Daylen Harrison (1).
Up Next

The Cowboys will not return to action until Jan. 27 when they host Utah. The Pokes and Utes will tip off at 7 p.m. on in the Arena-Auditorium. This coming weekend will be UW’s first one off since taking six days off during the Christmas Holiday.

Three possessions doom Cowboys

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

A final one-possession game was decided by three possessions that went the New Mexico Lobos way on Saturday.

With the scored tied at 58-each with about four minutes remaining, the Cowboys turned the ball over three straight times. The Lobos scored each time and then held on to stop Wyoming 70-68 in the Arena-Auditorium.

“You have some guys who were in situations they had never been before,” Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said. “Those turnovers back-to-back … and we got to the line coming down the stretch and we weren't able to capitalize.”

The Cowboys, one of the nation's leading teams in free throws made and attempted, were just 11 of 19 from the free-throw line, missing four free throws in the final three minutes. Wyoming also had 23 turnovers in the game and New Mexico scored 20 points off of those miscues.

“I thought we played well enough to win,” Schroyer said. “I thought we shot ourselves in the foot at times, but you have to give New Mexico a lot of credit, they are very good. A couple of key turnovers here and there, and obviously some missed free throws, and that was the difference.”

A.J. Hardeman scored a career-high 18 points for New Mexico (2-2 MWC, 16-3).

“I thought it was two really young basketball teams fighting like crazy for a win,” New Mexico coach Steve Alford said. “I thought we did a good job keeping them off of the line … keeping them off the line was a big key.”

Afam Muojeke led the Cowboys (1-3, 8-10) with 16 points.

Hardeman was 7 of 10 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds. He also took two big charging fouls on defense.

“He has been so consistent, and I thought there was a game where he was going to explode a little bit, and tonight was the one,” Alford said.

Phillip McDonald and Darrington Hobson both scored 15 points for New Mexico.

Wyoming still had a chance in the final minute of the game, trailing by three and in possession of the basketball, but Muojeke was called for the offensive foul on the fastbreak. The Lobos hit four free throws in the final 30 seconds to clinch the win.

Alford, whose team was ranked 15th in the country last week before dropping its first two league games, said his young team has done a good job of finding ways to win.

"We didn't shoot the ball particularly well, but they (Wyoming) did a nice job with their pressure defense," Alford said. "Any time you can come on the road and score 70 and get a win, you have to be pleased."

Adam Waddell and Djibril Thiam both scored 11 points for Wyoming.

UW basketball faces New Mexico

The Wyoming Cowboys (8-9 overall, 1-2 MWC) return to action Saturday at 1:30 p.m. when they host New Mexico at the Arena-Auditorium.

The Cowboys are coming off a tough road loss to TCU last Tuesday. After trailing by as many as 14 in the first half, the Cowboys rallied to take the lead late in the second half. However, TCU held on for a 62-59 win.

New Mexico, which has been ranked as high as No. 13/12 in the nation this season, enters Saturday with a 15-3 overall record. After dropping two straight games to open MWC play, the Lobos picked up their first league win this past Wednesday at home over Utah (74-57). They are currently 1-2 in league play and are receiving votes in both national polls.

The Wyoming-New Mexico series dates back to Dec. 18, 1950. Since then, the two teams have played 119 times, with Wyoming leading 63-56.

Wyoming has won 12 of the last 21 overall meetings and 10 of the last 12 meetings in Laramie. The Cowboys had won 10 consecutive meetings in Laramie before New Mexico defeated the Pokes, 99-92 in double overtime, on Jan. 5, 2008. New Mexico then won it's second consecutive game in Laramie last March, 74-73.

The Cowboys and Lobos are two of the best free-throw shooting teams in the nation. In fact, the Pokes lead the nation in makes and rank second in attempts (384 of 525, 73.1 percent). New Mexico ranks No. 4 in the nation in both categories (342 of 510, 67.1 percent). Three Cowboys currently rank among the top-10 free-throw shooters in the MWC--Afam Muojeke (.837), A.J. Davis (.816) and Djibril Thiam (.786).

Muojeke is currently ranked second in the Mountain West Conference in scoring with an 18.1 points per game average. Through three MWC games, Muojeke is currently averaging 19.7 points per conference game.

Cowgirls at New Mexico
The Wyoming Cowgirls close out the week on the road as they take on the New Mexico Lobos Saturday at 2 p.m. in Albuquerque.

The Cowgirls, 11-4 overall, 2-1 in MWC, are coming off a thrilling 73-67 win over the 22nd-ranked TCU Lady Frogs on Wednesday. Three Cowgirls are scoring in double-figures, led by junior Hillary Carlson at 14.8 points and 2.1 blocks per game. She is followed by junior Aubrey Vandiver with 14.7 points and a team leading 9.4 rebounds, while Emma Langford is adding 11.9 points and 3.6 assists.

The Lobos (9-6, 2-1) are led by Amy Beggin, who is averaging 14.3 points per game, along with four rebounds. Jessica Kielpinski is leading the way with 5.5 rebounds, while adding 6.6 points per game.

The Lobos welcome back three starters and nine letterwinners to a team that went 25-11 overall and 9-7 in the MWC a year ago. This is the 58th meeting between the two teams. New Mexico leads the series 33-24. The last time the two teams met was March 7, 2009 as the Lobos defeated the Cowgirls 63-45 in Albuquerque. New Mexico is coached by Don Flanagan who is in his 15th season with the program.

TCU holds off Cowboys

UW-TCU statistics

FORT WORTH, Texas - The Wyoming Cowboys came up a bit short in their bid for an important Mountain West Conference rod victory, falling to TCU 62-59 Tuesday night in the Danuiel-Meyer Coliseum.

The inconsistent Cowboys were again that against the Horned Frogs, trailing by as much as 14 points in the first half and leading by two points with 5:38 to play.

The loss dropped Wyoming to 1-2 in league play and 8-9 overall. TCU moved to 2-1 and 9-8.

Looking to bring some momentum off of Saturday’s upset of San Diego State, the Cowboys came out flat as TCU scored the first nine points of the game. The Horned Frogs led 27-13 before Wyoming chipped away and cut the lead to 36-30 at halftime.

The two teams then traded leads six times, with the Cowboys up for the final time at 52-50. The Horned Frogs responded with six straight, but Wyoming cut the lead back to one on a three-point play by Afam Muojeke with 35 seconds left.

But Kevin Butler made a pair of free throws with 30 seconds to go, and Wyoming missed three chances to score before time ran out.

Back in the starting lineup, Muojeke led the Cowboys with 24 points, followed by sophomore Adam Waddell’s 15 points and eight rebounds.

Edvinas Ruzgas scored 22 points for the Horned Frogs, Ronnie Moss adding 14. Also for TCU, Zvonko Buljan had 12 rebounds and Butler scored 10 points.

The Cowboys actually out-shot TCU from the field (39 percent to 36) and out-rebounded the Horned Frogs 41-37, but Wyoming committed 14 turnovers leading to 20 TCU points.

The Cowboys return to action Saturday when they host New Mexico at 1:30 p.m.

Cowboys rally past Aztecs

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming sophomore Adam Waddell, 15, celebrates with teammates Daylen Harrison and Rob Watsabaugh Saturday after the Cowboys knocked off San Diego State 85-83.

UW-SDSU statistics

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

After Wednesday's disappointing effort and 10-point loss to arch-rival Colorado State, the Wyoming Cowboys talked the talk.

They were embarrassed and admitted that they didn't give the ultimate effort; they apparently didn't want it as much as the Rams. They said that had to change.

On Saturday, the Cowboys walked the walk and played to the final buzzer, upsetting San Diego State 85-83.

“The team you saw open conference was not us at all,” said Wyoming sophomore Afam Muojeke, who scored a game-high 30 points “It took some time, I guess. Everybody is starting to click, everybody is starting to get it. It's rolling now.”

The Cowboys (1-1 MWC, 8-8) trailed by 14 points with 4:50 to play, before full-court pressure and big 3-pointers stung the Aztecs in the end.

“Obviously, this was what the doctor ordered,” said Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer. “San Diego State is a really good team; they are really well coached. This was a really big win for this program.”

Inconsistency has been the story of the Cowboys' season. When they're good, they are very good. When they're not, the results speak for themselves. There is apparently no in-between for the Pokes.

The Cowboys are good when they give the ultimate effort and pressure their opponent. Saturday, they forced 15 turnovers in the second half and the points game back in bunches.

“That's our identity; that's us, that is what we do,” Muojeke said. “When we don't, we're not going to be very successful. If we bring it every night, it will change our game.”

Those 19 total turnovers led to 32 points.

“It was a matter of us just fighting and efforting, pressuring,” Cowboy sophomore guard JayDee Luster said. “It was just a matter of us doing what we do.”

“Most teams don't expect me to shoot the ball, and I am capable of shooting the ball and making the shots,” Luster said. “But my teammates and my coaches have been telling me all year to keep shooting; they believe in.”

The Aztecs (1-1, 12-4) seemed to have the game in control, leading 45-31 at halftime, but the Cowboys began to chip away with steals off of the press. Luster and Arthur Bouedo hit 3-pointers to give Wyoming an 82-81 lead with 39 seconds left.

After Kawhi Leonard hit one free throw to tie the game at 82-each with 29 seconds left, Luster's 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left proved to be the game-winner. San Diego State's D.J. Gay hit one free throw with 2.1 seconds left, but after missing the second attempt, the rebound wasn't controlled and time ran out.

“We played as well as we could and handled the ball well under stress in the first half, but about as bad as you can play during multiple stretches in the second half,” San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. “We had 15 or 16 second-half turnovers, and you can't win when you do that.”

Luster said it is all about playing as a team, playing in the Arena-Auditorium.

“Playing 7200 feet is a big advantage for us,” Luster said. “We have to pressure the ball for 40 minutes and get into people the entire time.”

On Wednesday, the Cowboys kept the press up for 40 minutes, but the pressure wasn't there and the Rams handled it. On Saturday, the Aztecs couldn't handle it.

“That is our purpose to do that,” Buoedo said. “We play and practice every day at 7200 feet. If we go hard, nobody can run with us. We have to do it for 40 minutes.”

“It shows that if we execute what the coaches want us to do, we can play with anybody. But we have to play like this for 40 minutes.”

One steal led to another, which led to layups, dunks and 3-pointers.

“Everybody just fed off of each other and it just flowed,” Muojeke said.

Leonard scored a career-high 25 points for San Diego State, followed by Chase Tapley with 17 and Malcolm Thomas with 14.

Luster scored a career-high 14 points for the Cowboys, who shot 58 percent from the field in the second half. Wyoming hit 7 of 11 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes, six in the final minutes.

“Obviously, we made big shots down the stretch. But our defense is what did it,” Schroyer said. “I think we caused them problems with our pressure; we stayed with it. Over the course of 40 minutes, the last four or five minutes, it took it's toll. That was the difference.”