The Wyoming Cowboys went into the 2022-23 Men’s Basketball season with high hopes and even higher expectations, yet, so far, the Pokes have consistently fallen short.
Since winter break, the team has gone 0-6, including four division losses. Currently, the Cowboys find themselves in last place in the Mountain West.
After making it to the NCAA tournament as well as being a pre-season favorite last year, why are the Pokes off to such an unfavorable start this season?
Injuries are a big part of the problem for this Cowboy basketball team. Graham Ike will be out all year, and possibly even longer than what his initial diagnosis originally suggested.
Noah Reynolds, Hunter Thompson, Kenny Foster, and Brendan Wenzel all missed time as well due to injuries.
Despite this, Reynolds is one of Wyoming’s most electric players on the court, leading the team in points per game with 14.3.
Aside from injuries, Wyoming is bottom five in the Mountain West in almost every team metric; rebounds, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, 3 point percentage, assists, steals, and blocks.
The addition of three transfers from California were a promising factor to this year’s winning efforts, but are not living up to the original high expectations.
Ethan Anderson leads the team in assists per game with an average of 3.3, but the other two transfers, Agbonkpolo and Kyman, have had an underwhelming seasonal performance considering both of their incredible skill sets.
On New Year’s Eve, the Cowboys nearly beat the undefeated New Mexico Lobos, but fell short by one point. It seemed like the team was headed in the right direction, but instead lost their next two games to San Diego State and Utah State.
The Cowboys will take on Boise State on Saturday, Jan 14, hoping to turn their luck around and regain some confidence for the remainder of the season.
