John Luke Fabian
Jfabian1@uwyo.edu
Twitter: @HouseFabian
The Wyoming Cowboys basketball team dropped their first game of the season on Monday with a 70-55 loss against Indiana State. This game was a part of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge and UW’s first road loss of the year (1-1).
“This team is new,” UW head coach Larry Shyatt said. “This team plays new. The games are going to be a little faster, possessions are going to go quicker and we are going to have to learn how to win when those jump shots aren’t falling.”
The game began with Wyoming falling behind 5-0, until a three-ball from redshirt sophomore Alan Herndon put the Cowboys on the board. Freshman Justin James hit a jumper that gave Wyoming the lead with 11:26 left in the first half. UW was 3-9 from the field at this point in the game.
Wyoming held the lead for about three minutes, then Indiana State grabbed it back. Indiana State scored 14 unanswered points to close out the half, bringing them to a 14-point lead too.
UW was shooting 20 percent overall and 12.5 percent from deep. The Cowboy defense held Indiana State to 35.5 percent shooting in the first half. Wyoming had two assists while Indiana State had nine. The Sycamores were also out rebounding the Pokes 28-16. Wyoming did not have any offensive rebounds compared to the six that Indiana State had.
Senior Josh Adams and Sophomore Alexander Aka Gorski led the Cowboys in score with four points each. Aka Gorski had one of the two made three’s made by the Pokes.
The second half began with the Sycamores extending their lead out 17 points with a made three-point shot. With 15:03 left in the game, Adams made a layup that sparked a run for UW of 8-0 that cut the Indiana State lead down to six points.
Wyoming’s run was not enough, as the Sycamores started to build up their lead again. Indiana State had their lead up to 19 points at one point in the second half. Wyoming lost in the end.
The Cowboys ended the game 34.5 percent from the field and 23.3 percent from three-point range. Indiana State out rebounded and had more assists than the Pokes during the game.
Josh Adams finished the game with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists in the game. Adams moved into Wyoming’s top 10 in career assists in this game. Jason McManamen hit 3 three-balls in the second half and finished with 10 points. No other Cowboy ended the game in double figures scoring.
The Cowboys return to Laramie tonight and will host New Mexico Highlands at the Arena-Auditorium at 7 p.m.
