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.