In an intensely close game Monday night, the Cowboys took on the nationally ranked defense of the San Diego State Aztecs, losing 66-73
As of Sunday, Feb. 27, the Aztecs were ranked second for scoring defense by the NCAA.
Despite this fact, the Cowboys were able to stay within a single-digit distance for the majority of the game, with the Pokes only trailing by seven points at the end of the first half.
Their biggest lead came at 11 minutes remaining in the first half and was all of five points.
“At halftime, we re-grouped and I thought our defensive effort in the second half was phenomenal to hold them to 30 percent shooting,” Head Coach Jeff Linder said.
While the Pokes defense did indeed hold the Aztecs to a perfect 30.00% shooting from the field in the second half, they allowed San Diego 53% in the first.
Three-pointer stats show a similar story, with 25% in the second and 71% in the first.
“We gotta be a little more dialed in the first half, we can’t let them make as many threes as they did,” Hunter Maldonaldo said. Despite the loss, he experienced his own smaller victory in achieving the first triple-double stat since 2006.
Maldonaldo scored 13 points, had 11 assists and 11 rebounds.
This was the first triple-double since one from Justin Williams in 2006, who had 10 points, 15 rebounds and 12 blocks.
Maldonaldo’s was only the third triple-double in Cowboy history, the first being Theo Ratliff in 1995 with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 11 blocks, also against the Aztecs.
Both teams added 29 points to their scores over the course of the second half, which allowed the Aztecs to finish seven points up on the Cowboys.
The story looked vastly different with one minute remaining on the game clock, however.
Wyoming was behind by a single three-pointer, with a score of 66-69. However, a good jumper and two made free throws from San Diego pushed them ahead, while two missed threes and a loose ball foul from the Cowboys kept them from their 15th consecutive home win.
“It was a make or miss game toward the end, a one-possession game, and they came down and they made their shots and we didn’t make our shots,” Linder said.
Scoring for the Cowboys was led by a confident Jeremiah Oden, with 17 points and three of the team’s 10 three-pointers to his name.
Monday night was the eighth game this season with double-digit three-pointers for the Pokes and Oden’s first game with three triples.
“That’s all you can ask for as a player, is playing at the top of the conference,” Oden said. “You can’t get frustrated (at Matt Bradley), he’s a real good player.”
Bradley was San Diego’s leading scorer, with 30 points and a record of 10-20 for buckets and 5-9 for threes.
The Cowboys travel to Las Vegas this coming Wednesday to face UNLV with a tip-off time of 8:30 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcasted live on FS1.
