The University of Wyoming men’s basketball team fought hard but faltered down the stretch in route to a 65-54 loss to Utah State on Wednesday night in Logan, Utah.
“We talked at halftime about what we haven’t done in the second half, so our guys came out and went right at [Utah State] and got a nice eight-point lead,” UW head coach Larry Shyatt said. «They took over on the glass, though, from about the 14-minute mark to the five-minute mark, where there was a major difference in rebounds. They beat us 29-10 on the glass in the second half. Sophomore guard Josh Adams led the team in scoring with 21 points. He also had four assists on the night.
Senior guard Nate Sobey scored the first five points of the second half for Wyoming to give the Cowboys a six point lead, 34-28, at the 18:53 mark.
Wyoming built their largest lead of the game of eight at 36-28 on a Josh Adams layup with 18:28 to play in the second half.
Utah State responded with a 10-0 run to take a two point lead at 38-36 with 14:30 to play.
Wyoming answered with a 5-0 spurt on a Josh Adams and-one to take a 41-38 lead with 12:53 to play.
Utah State slowly took control of the game by asserting themselves on the boards and theoretically put the game out of reach on a three from senior guard Preston Medlin with 3:28 to play which gave the Aggies a 58-50 lead.
Wyoming struggled shooting the ball as they only shot 36 percent from the field, just 21 percent from behind the arc and 58 percent from the free throw line.
Utah State was not particularly sharp either, only shooting from 43 percent from the field, 29 percent from deep and 79 percent from the charity stripe.
The difference in the game was seen on the boards as Utah State out rebounded Wyoming 47-27.
Wyoming took care of the ball for the second consecutive game as they only turned it over three times.
The Pokes owned a three point halftime lead at 29-26 and was able to out-score Utah State in the paint in the first half.
Junior forward Derek Cooke vanished in the second half after scoring seven first half points and grabbing seven rebounds.
Besides Adams, the only other Cowboy in double figures was Sobey who had 14 points and 9 rebounds.
Senior forward Jarred Shaw led the way for the Aggies recording a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Spencer Butterfield added 12 points. Off the bench sophomore forward Kyle Davis chipped in 11 points. Finally, senior guard TeNale Roland had 10 points.
This marked the second consecutive game that Wyoming recored zero bench points.
The Cowboys are now 0-4 since junior forward Larry Nance Jr. went down with a torn ACL.
Wyoming will now need a win in their finale and either a loss by Nevada, who hosts UNLV on Saturday, or by Boise State who visits Air Force, in order to earn the fifth seed and a first round bye going into the Mountain West Tournament.
The Cowboys will close out the regular season at home vs Colorado State on Saturday at 2 p.m. Seniors Nathan Sobey and Jerron Granberry will be honored, as it will be their last game in the Arena Auditorium.
