The University of Wyoming Cowboys were looking to break a four game conference losing streak Wednesday night, and what better scenario than the Border War at home on Senior Night to do so?
Things did not turn out that way however, as the Colorado State Rams clobbered the Cowboys 78-56.
The Cowboys were outclassed all night by a CSU team that could be heading to the NCAA National Championship later in March. UW had no answer for Rams’ Colton Iverson.
The 6’10” senior Iverson ended the night with 29 points and a 100 percent field goal percentage on 12-12 shooting, and going 5-7 from the free throw line for the Rams (23-7, 10-5 Mountain West Conference). He dominated the paint on the offensive end, making dunks and layups. He did not attempt a shot outside of the paint.
UW Head Coach Larry Shyatt praised the performance of Iverson after the game, saying that he “gave [CSU] the one piece to be special.”
“First of all they are a good team,” sophomore Larry Nance Jr., who scored 16 points to lead the Cowboys (18-12, 4-12 MWC) in scoring, said. “Of course we allowed 47 in the first half, which is something we don’t want to do, but stuff like this happens sometimes.”
Seniors Derrious Gilmore and Leonard Washington were honored for Senior Night before tipoff. Gilmore ended the night with 12 points and four assists. Washington had only 3 points and one rebound and fouled out with 9:22 left in the second half. He was clearly struggling from a lower back injury that has been nagging him recently.
The Cowboys started the game well, hitting two 3-pointers to grab an early lead. But their momentum was stymied by an 8-0 run by the Rams. After that run, UW never regained a foothold in the game.
CSU’s dominance in the paint was the telling stat of the game. They outscored the Cowboys 32-18 in the paint and 20-0 on second chance points. The Rams dominated both the offensive and defensive boards, with 35 total rebounds (22 defensive and 13 offensive) to UW’s 11 (9 defensive and two offensive).
The biggest lead of the night was 25 points with 4:02 left in the game, at which point Coach Shyatt put in some of the younger players on the team to get some game experience.
“We are not a new team, we are 18-12,” Shyatt said. “Now we go to two tournaments, but 18 are in the book, and unfortunately 12 are as well. We are not a new team. Hopefully we can be a healthy and refreshed team.”
The next game for the Cowboys will be next week in the Mountain West Conference Championship in Las Vegas.
The University of Wyoming Cowgirls went on the road to beat the CSU Rams in their edition of the Border War with the final score of 65-51.
Senior Chaundra Sewell got her 11th double-double of the season, scoring 22 points and pulling down 17 rebounds to lead all Cowgirls (23-6, 12-4 MW) in scoring. Sophomore Kayla Woodward also added 13 points and six rebounds. The Rams (10-18, 6-9 MW) were led by Meghan Heimstra, who scored a game high 32 points.
The Cowgirls’ next game also will be in the MWC Tournament next week.
