If you were Sundance Wicks, you couldn’t dream of a better first half of the Cowboys’ home Mountain West matchup against the New Mexico Lobos. The Cowboys, albeit aided by some poor shooting on the Lobos’ behalf, held the Lobos to an egregious 18.5% from the field in the first half. The Cowboys were leading at the half by 14 after holding the Lobos to a season low 18 first half points–an insane number for a team that typically averages 87 points a night, which ranks ninth in the entire nation.
Wicks’ game plan was being run to perfection–the game was being played at a crawling speed, and the Cowboys were more often than not limiting the Lobos to just one shot per possession, after only allowing five offensive rebounds off their plethora of misses.
For the first time in conference play, the Cowboys looked as if they were going to cruise to a relatively easy conference win, even in spite of the absence of Obi Agbim once again.
Then, the second half came crashing in. The Lobos–as one would suspect would happen– finally found their footing offensively. A 16-1 run in the opening minutes of the half quickly evaporated the Pokes’ 14 point halftime lead into a one point deficit.
“It’s a tale of two halves, gotta come out and play in the second half. Told them it was gonna happen at halftime. You always got to expect them to come like a team that wasn’t playing the way they usually play, to come out with their hair on fire in the second half,” Wicks said.
Understood the assignment.@jneszz • 🤠🆙 pic.twitter.com/2jo2U0bBlZ
— Wyoming Cowboy Basketball (@wyo_mbb) January 8, 2025
The Cowboys did battle back–quickly answering the 16-1 run with an 8-0 run of their own to push the lead back out to six midway through the second half, but the damage was already done. The Cowboys may have just survived the knockout punch for a moment, but the Lobos struck again, this time in the final four minutes. The Cowboys, grasping onto a 48-47 lead, spotted the Lobos eight straight points, ultimately burying the Cowboys in a 61-53 final.
“They came out tougher than us, to be honest.” a clearly perturbed Cole Henry said about the Cowboys’ second half play. “I had a lot of plays in the second half that I really wish I could have back from a toughness standpoint.”
“In my whole career, I care about this team more than any team I’ve ever played for,” Henry also added. “This one hurts, bad…it’s really got me upset.”
Dontaie Allen, who joined Henry post game and looked equally as upset, echoed much of Henry’s frustrations, as he also knew that the Cowboys had this one–and just let it slip away at the very end.
“When you got a 14 point lead, you got to, no matter what lead you got, no matter how it looks, you got to come out ready to go,” Allen said.
While this is certainly a game the Cowboys wish they had in the win column, there are still plenty of positives to garner from the loss. This Cowboys’ squad has clearly bought in to Wicks’ system and style of play–and while it hasn’t been necessarily pretty to watch, it has kept the Cowboys in each and every one of their Mountain West matchups. The proof is all there too–the Cowboys have nearly held each of their conference foes they have faced so far under 70 points, the only exception being Utah State–who only score exactly 70.
“It is not easy to get players to believe in the style of play that we are playing right now, and they are 1,000% believing in what we’re doing, and the process of that is showing,” Wicks said. “If the process is right and the results are wrong, I can live with that.”
Nonetheless, with the way the Cowboys are playing, they certainly have many believing that the results will come–as long as they stick with Wicks’ process. The process doesn’t get much easier, however, as the Cowboys have what may be an even greater test than what they faced tonight on their homecourt when they travel to Boise State to take the Broncos in what will already be the second meeting between the two teams this season. The Broncos narrowly escaped the Cowboys in Laramie a few weeks ago with a 67-58 final.
With a full week for the Cowboys to rest and prepare for the contest, Agbim will likely be fit for his return after missing the last two contests with an ankle injury. If the Cowboys can see their regular production from him–and play the stalwart defense they’ve shown themselves capable of playing, then the Cowboys will certainly have a chance to escape with an extremely impressive road win in Boise.
