The Wyoming Cowboys men’s basketball team and the New Mexico Lobos for the second game this season went to overtime, with the Lobos winning 52-49.
“To play in this venue with 16,000 people and a team that’s lost eight in a row and hadn’t won in a month, I thought that was yeoman’s work to be down and have not only a chance to win, but two chances to win — one in regulation, one in overtime,” head coach Larry Shyatt said to Pokes Authority.
Senior forward Larry Nance Jr. finished the game with 21 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. This game was the 119th game in a Cowboys uniform for the star forward. He is now tenth all time for games played as a Cowboy. Senior guard Riley Grabau finished the game with 15 points, nine of those points coming from three-point shots. Coming off of the bench, senior guard Jack Bentz was able to contribute by leading the team in assists with four.
In the first half, Wyoming shot the ball at 25 percent from the field, while the Lobos were shooting 30.8 percent from the field. The two teams combined to only make one three ball from 13 shots in the first half. At the half, the Lobos were leading 17-14.
“It helps to make some shots. And in the first half, they weren’t dropping,” Bentz said to Pokes Authority.
Both teams shot the ball much better in the second half, with the Cowboys making 44.4 percent of their shots and New Mexico making 43.5 percent. Wyoming went to the free throw line 14 times in the second half and made 11 of their shots. The game was tied at the end of regulation 44-44.
Overtime began with New Mexico going on a 6-0 run with 38 seconds left. The Cowboys had a shot to cut the lead to one with 15 seconds left in overtime. Nance missed the jumper with two seconds left. The ball got into the hands of Grabau who missed his shot at the buzzer. The Cowboys lost to the Lobos 52-49.
The Lobos out rebounded the Pokes 38-32 and had three more assists than them as well. New Mexico got 20 points in the paint and Wyoming scored 16.
The Cowboys finish the regular season with a record of 22-9 overall and 11-7 in the Mountain West. The Pokes finished fourth in the Mountain West, the highest they have finished in 12 years.
The Cowboys will begin the Mountain West tournament on Thursday where they will face off against Utah State. The game will begin at 3:30 p.m. MT and will be played at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
