Akuel Kot knocked down a game winning step-back jumper in the dying seconds of the second half as the Cowboys rallied from down 17 to take down the San Jose State Spartans, earning themselves a 1-0 start to conference play.
“Akuel is a great one-on-one player,” head coach Jeff Linder said about Kot’s game winning shot, “looking at what the matchup was gave us a good chance. We will enjoy this one and look to heading to New Mexico.”
The Spartans were looking for their first ever win in Laramie and nearly had it, but the Cowboys’ resilience proved to be too much as their 17 point comeback was the largest deficit overcome since 2016 for the program.
The Spartans stormed out the gates in the opening minutes of the half, jumping out to an early 8-0 lead including two straight threes before the Cowboys and Caden Powell could answer. Kot would score his first points with a lay-in and a pair of free throws as the Cowboys went on a quick 6-0 run, but that was ended by a Spartan three. Oleg Kojenets had a nice start with a lay-in and a pair of free throws, but the Spartans stayed hot from beyond the arc. Mason Walters and Sam Griffin scored but the Cowboys still trailed the Spartans 19-18 with 10 minutes left in the first half.
From this point on, San Jose went on a massive 12-0 run to jump out to a 31-18 lead before the Cowboys could answer with two Kojenets free throws. The Cowboys’ offense was struggling immensely, though, as the Spartans were able to gain their largest lead at 17 points. The Pokes went nearly 10 minutes without a single field goal, only finding production at the free throw line before a Kot three ended the field goal drought to make it 43-29 in the late goings of the first half. Wyoming would enter the half down 12 at 47-35, mostly due to the hot shooting of the Spartans as well as their own offensive struggles.
The Cowboys came out of the break with some hot shooting, and multiple Pokes scored, including Kot nailing a three that cut the lead to 7. Both teams then traded shots back and forth in the early goings, and the Cowboys couldn’t bring themselves within closer than 6 without an answer by the Spartans. Griffin eventually drew the Cowboys within 4 at 54-50 before the Spartans quickly pushed it back out to 8. Griffin was putting together a nice second half though, as he’d continue to score at will and Kojenets scored off a nice feed by Walters to make it a 58-56 before a Spartan three and lay-in pushed the lead back out to 7 with 10 minutes left in the contest.
Brendan Wenzel finally scored his first points of the night with a nice floater in the lane at the 8 minute mark, but the Cowboys were still trailing by 4. Griffin remained hot in the half, as his lay-in and massive three point jumper tied the game up at 66 a piece with 6 minutes left. Both Walters and Kojenets scored but the Spartans would answer, and both teams remained knotted up late. The Spartans took a 71-70 lead off a free throw, but Griffin again cashed in a three to give the lead to the Cowboys with 2:45 left. The Spartans answered for the tie, and neither team could break away as the game was tied at 73 a piece with just seconds left in the contest. The Spartans missed a nice shot at a three with 21 seconds left in the game, giving the Cowboys the last look of the game which allowed Kot to go to work and score the game winning jumper. The Cowboys came back to win 75-73 over the Spartans.
The Cowboys found a majority of their production from the field in the second half, as they outscored the Spartans 40-26. Wyoming was 42.1% from the field and only hit 4 threes in the contest. San Jose was also proficient from the field at 44.1% and 38.7% from beyond the arc. The Spartans outrebounded the Cowboys 37-33 but the Cowboys outscored the Spartans in the paint 36-20. A huge development for the Cowboys was in the turnover department, where they had a season low 5 turnovers in the game, an area they have been struggling in all season, averaging the second most turnovers in the conference.
The Cowboys were led by Griffin with 23 points on 10/20 shooting and he also led the Cowboys in rebounding with 6. Kojenets scored a career high 18 points while going 8/8 from the free throw line. Kot rounded out the scorers in double figures with 14.
The Cowboys hit the road on Saturday to take on the New Mexico Lobos, with the game set to tip off at 7 p.m.
