Cowboy Larry Nance Jr. drives to the basket in the game against Denver earlier in the season. The Pokes went on to win the game 71-61.
The men’s regular basketball season wraps up this week, and the Mountain West Conference Championship tournament begins next week.
The tournament will be held in Las Vegas, Nev. The first games will be played March 12 between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds in the conference and the tournament finals will take place March 16.
The favorite on the men’s side is No. 14 ranked New Mexico Lobos, who have a 12-2 conference record and have already locked up the No. 1 seed in the tournament with two conference games still left to play. They are averaging 67.2 points a game, and have a +6.8 scoring margin, according to stats from the New Mexico Lobos athletics web site.
With the clear favorites aside, the path to a championship could be a rather difficult one for the University of Wyoming Cowboys.
If the tournament were to begin today, the Cowboys would be in the No. 7 spot, which would see them take on a familiar foe in the Colorado State Rams, who would be in the No. 2 slot. The Cowboys play CSU tomorrow night at home in the Arena Auditorium. That game should act as a nice gauge to see how the Cowboys would stack up against the Rams,
Playing in front of the home crowd has been beneficial for the Cowboys, with a 12-4 record in the Arena Auditorium this season. But it has been on the road where they have encountered issues, as the record is less than .500 at 6-7. This does not bode well for a team that would have to win three or potentially four games at a neutral court.
While defensive play has been strong for the Cowboys — 56.9 points allowed per game, according to statistics from the UW athletic website — they have struggled to find consistent scoring. The loss of Luke Martinez is rearing its ugly head, as he was leading the team in scoring through the first 12 games of the season that he played in. His 3-point shots have especially been missed. Martinez, prior to the altercation that saw him suspended and eventually dismissed from the team, had a season average of 42.2 percent from behind the arc, which was — and still is — the best on the team, according to the UW athletic website.
The Cowboys will have to rely on Leonard Washington to carry the scoring load in the tournament, but he is just coming back from an injury that could affect the team scoring if his minutes on the court are limited.
With all the ups and downs of this roller coaster season, the chances of a conference title for the Cowboys are not completely absurd, but they are bleak indeed.
