This one, as Wyoming basketball head coach Sundance Wicks likes to call it, was a rock fight. The stats would call it ugly. Still, at the end of the day, it was a notch in the win column.
And right now, that’s all that matters.
Friday Night Rock Fight Dub. pic.twitter.com/c1Ty0x0JS1
— Wyoming Cowboy Basketball (@wyo_mbb) November 23, 2024
“I’m not going to apologize for a win, I’m not going to apologize for being 4-1. There are a lot of teams in the country right now that would love to wake up on Saturday morning being 4-1,” Wicks said postgame.
Fans may remember the team in green and gold who visited the Cowboys tonight. The Southeastern Louisiana Lions, a team that hails from the Southland conference, was the first domino that completely upended the highly anticipated 2022-2023 season for the Cowboys a few years ago. WIcks, who roamed the sidelines as an assistant that season in Laramie, was keen to avenge the 76-72 loss the Lions handed the Cowboys in that one.
The Lions weren’t necessarily going to make it easy for the first year head man, though. A hard-nosed Lions squad, despite going down by 10 at halftime, held the lead for multiple times throughout the second half before the Cowboys were able to pull away for a close 64-61 victory.
“Really hard to beat [the Lions], probably never schedule them again,” Wicks joked. “You guys have earned a right not to come back to Laramie.”
However, the Cowboys themselves may have been the biggest obstacle in the way of finding a win in this one. A 19/33 mark from the charity stripe was the most glaring statline. 16 turnovers, 10 of which came in the second half comeback effort by the Lions, was another glaring issue in this one. 10 of those turnovers also came from the Cowboys’ backcourt and primary ball handlers.
“Tonight we defended, we rebounded, but we didn’t take care of the basketball, right?” Wicks said. “Your primary ball handlers have to take care of the basketball.”
It was some unlikely heroes that helped the Cowboys overcome their mistakes in unlikely ways to find a way to win tonight.
After one half of play, Jordan Nesbitt had zero points, despite pulling down nine rebounds in the opening frame of play. By the end of this one, the senior capped off his night leading the Cowboys in both scoring and rebounding, with 13 points and 15 rebounds, including a dagger three that gave the Cowboys the lead for the rest of the night at the three and a half minute mark. The senior seemed to be making a concerted effort to get to the rim in the second half, which massively contributed to his third double-double of the season.
Take the lead.
— Wyoming Cowboy Basketball (@wyo_mbb) November 23, 2024
Don’t give it back. pic.twitter.com/vEQ5c5Nw0t
“Just, the feel of the game, in the first half I’m always just trying to see how they guard me,” Nesbitt said of his second half success.
Scottie Ebube was also massive down the stretch, even after the big man picked up his fourth foul early in the second half. Just a play after Nesbitt’s big three, the junior hit a big pair of free throws to help ice away this one.
“Scottie Ebube, here you go, right? You just showed up today and make those two free throws [and] those are hard. Those moments…that’s the little things that separates you down the stretch.”
Still, if the Cowboys want to take down a tough Tulane team in Cancun in just a few days, they will have to clean their game up. The Cowboys, who are in the 300ths in turnovers per game, need to limit their turnovers if they want to beat teams better than the Lions they faced tonight. The Cowboys also rank 323rd in free throw percentage, despite late heroics at the charity stripe tonight. Again, that must be better if the Cowboys want to continue to add to their win total.
The Cowboys will hope to see those numbers improve against Tulane this Tuesday when they take them on in the Cancun Challenge.
