John Luke Fabian
Jfabian1@uwyo.edu
Twitter: @HouseFabian
Sometimes the other guys are just a better team.
The Wyoming Cowboys lost to the San Diego State Aztecs by a margin of 12 for the second time this season, this time falling 73-61. The size and athleticism of SDSU overwhelmed the Pokes throughout the game, and that was what ultimately did them in.
“It was just a little bit too much talent and little bit too much size with San Diego State,” head coach Larry Shyatt said. “The night you’ve got to catch them is when you can talk them into shooting those jump shots and they shoot their normal 40 percent. But hats off to them. They did a heck of a job.”
At the beginning of the game, it did not look like the Aztecs’ athleticism would be a problem. Wyoming had a 12-5 lead, with all of points coming from jump shots.
The Aztecs began to pull themselves back into the game and force Wyoming into some tough situations. As the game went on, San Diego State’s full court press appeared to wear on the Cowboys.
“I thought we did a great job with it,” Shyatt said. “I thought overall it may have fatigued Josh Adams a little bit, but he has that second wind about him.”
The first half came to a close, with San Diego going on a 9-2 run and grabbing a 41-33 lead.
SDSU came into the second half, and continued to get what they wanted on the offensive end, extending their lead to 12. There were moments where it seemed like the Cowboys could bring themselves back into it, but ultimately could not.
A Larry Shyatt team usually does not allow teams to get many fast break points or points off of turnover, because of how quickly they get back on defense. SDSU’s defense was so fast that Wyoming did not have a chance to blink. The Aztecs had 20 points off of turnover and eight fast-break points.
“They are a physical team, but we knew that going in,” sophomore Alan Herndon said. “That is San Diego. That is what they do. That is what they’re best at.”
The mistakes that Wyoming made began to add up as the game carried on. Eight missed free-throws, 12 turnovers and 13 SDSU offensive rebounds all started to pile on.
“It was a combination of a lot of things that lost us that game. It was not just getting shots or getting stops,” Jason McManamen said.
Even though the Cowboys may have been outmatched, Shyatt still enjoyed his team’s effort.
“I complement our guys. I complement our crowd,” Shyatt said. “I told the guys to wash this out of their mind because I want to go down to Vegas with the right attitude. We have a chance to get another sweep this weekend like we did against Colorado State last weekend.”
The Cowboys will travel to Las Vegas on Saturday to take on the UNLV Rebels. Tip off is set for 6 p.m.
