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.”