John Luke Fabian
Jfabian1@uwyo.edu
Twitter: @HouseFabian
The Wyoming Cowboys got a look at what life might be like next season without their star guard Josh Adams, as they fell to Boise State 81-71.
A technical foul from the previous game left Adams suspended for the game against Boise State. News of Adams’ suspension came the day before the game seemed to catch the Cowboys off guard. Players and coaches were a little more than upset, to say the least.
“It came as a surprise, but trust me I am not a dumb guy. My wife will get a little upset because she does not want me to get fined, but I got a date picked out to talk about this,” head coach Larry Shyatt said.
At the start of the game, UW did not look like they would be missing Adams at all. Wyoming was moving the ball well and were getting guys open looks. They were 5-6 from the 3-point range and were leading 25-22 with 7:00 left in the first half.
In the first half, UW held the Broncos to 38 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc. Despite Wyoming shooting well and playing pretty good defense, the game was tied after 20 minutes of play.
BSU was in the game due to Wyoming committing nine turnovers, compared to the Broncos one. These would usually occur when the Cowboys had a hard time running their play, and did not have a player to calm them down. Adams has been their go to player for situations like that.
“We knew going in we weren’t going to have Josh,” forward Alan Herndon said. “We were expecting to have to move to get each other open, and we started off great. It seems like we just got stagnate.”
The game started to get out of hand for the Pokes at the beginning of the second half, as the Broncos hit their first four shots, three of them coming from beyond the arc. Trouble loomed for UW in a seven-point hole, and BSU quickly coming on.
The Cowboys did not panic and were able to slowly crawl their way back into the game. They cut the lead to four with 3:31 left to play.
“I’ve got to say we put ourselves in a position to win the game in the first 36 minutes of basketball against the most talented, most experienced and deepest team in the league,” Shyatt said.
Unfortunately, for the Cowboys, plays could not be made for the comeback to become complete. UW lost for a second straight time at home.
“We did not get stops when we needed to get stops and just turned the ball over too much,” guard Jason McManamen said.
Missing the player that generates most of their offense defiantly hurt, but UW had others that stepped up big. McManamen had a career high 25 points and Herndon was able to throw in 16 points.
Some might say that the inexperience of the team is what did them in. There is talk this is just going to be a year of transition, and UW will need to live with that. Shyatt knows the team is young, but he is not going to let that get in his way.
“I’m not happy with that. I told the team, this isn’t about building,” Shyatt said. “I’m not a carpenter. I’m not interested in being good in three to four years. I would never talk like that. I would never coach you like that.”
Wyoming will be playing at Fresno State tonight, with tip off scheduled to be at 8 p.m.
