SMU, sparked by junior guard Nic Moore’s season-high 25 points, ended Wyoming’s unbeaten season in a 66-53 victory on Friday night in Dallas, Texas.
“I think (the loss) adds fuel to the fire,” senior forward Derek Cooke Jr. said in an interview after the game with Mike Vorel. “We just have to stick to our principles.”
Moore scored his 25 points, on 10-of-14, in a variety of different ways. He showed ability to get to the rack and finish, come off screens and knock down jumpers and pull up from deep and hit.
Senior forward Larry Nance Jr., on the other hand, did not show up as he only made one of his four shot attempts and scored just three points. He battled foul trouble all night.
“We tried to get him the ball early and we tried to get him the ball late,” said head coach Larry Shyatt said. “But their front line did a nice job.”
The Cowboys shot their worst that have all season as they only connected on 40 percent of their shots and just 29.6 percent from 3-point land. Leading the way for Wyoming was Cooke who had a season-high 15 points and seven boards. Senior guard Riley Grabau also had 15 points.
Larry Shyatt’s bench got very shallow versus the Mustangs as he only played eight guys and those three that came off the bench only mustered three points.
SMU shot the best any team has done so far this season versus Wyoming as they went 23-for-41 for 56.1 percent. The Mustangs did, however, struggle from deep as they only shot 37.5 percent (3-for-8). Their 73.9 (17-for-23) percent free throw shooting was something that helped them seal the win.
Along with Moore, senior center Yankick Moreira also had double-digit points as he logged a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore forward Ben Moore chipped in 14 points.
The Pokes got dominated on the glass. SMU out-rebounded Wyoming 35-16 (26-12 on the defensive boards and 9-4 on the offensive boards).
Both teams struggled with turnovers as Wyoming recorded 11 and SMU had 15.
Wyoming took its biggest lead of the game at 42-36 with 10 minutes and 46 seconds to play in the second half. SMU responded in the form of a 22-3 run, which put them up 58-45 with 1:44 to play and put the game on ice.
It was a back and forth affair for most of the game as no one possessed more than a five-point lead at any point before the 10:46 mark. Both teams played great defense forcing steals and shot-clock violations.
Wyoming bounced back and defeated Regis on Sunday 70-35. Look for a full recap of that game in Wednesday’s Branding Iron sports section.
