During the Cowboys’ three game losing skid before heading into Vegas to take on the UNLV Rebels, they had shot the ball at a devastatingly low clip. In that three game stretch, the Cowboys were a combined 35% from the floor as a team and that just wasn’t getting it done–the results very well reflected that.
After a lackluster 79-63 loss in the first edition of the Border War in Laramie, head coach Sundance Wicks clearly challenged his team’s effort and toughness, which was obviously lacking in their Border War loss and even more so in their 41 point trouncing at Boise State.
“You got to get tougher, right? You gotta get tough stops, that’s what it is in those big moments,” a frustrated Wicks said after the loss to Colorado State. “We couldn’t get a rebound…you got to get the dang ball.”
The Rebels were as of hot of a team as any in the nation heading into their homestand against the Cowboys as well, having recently knocked off the top team in the league, Utah State, at home–not to mention they were also most recently coming off an upset at San Diego State, one of the toughest places to play in the Mountain West. With the Cowboys’ underwhelming performances of late and the Rebels’ play being the exact opposite in their last two outings, expectations weren’t necessarily high for the Cowboys in this one.
However, Wicks’ team certainly answered the bell to his frustration, and then some in a gritty 63-61 road win against the Rebels. The win came courtesy of their stifling defense–holding the Rebels to 39.7% from the field and just 26.3% from deep. The Cowboys bolstered that performance with a blistering 50% mark from deep themselves, making 14 of 28 attempts from beyond the arc–the Cowboys’ had seemingly found their mark from the field after such a poor shooting streak through their three game skid. Much of those threes came by way of the unselfishness of this team, as they finished the contest assisting on 18 of their 22 made field goals–an incredible mark for a team that averages around 11.3 assists per game, ranking 330th in the entire nation.
“I’m maniacal about sharing the basketball,” Wicks said postgame. “I told them, ‘this is a great game to do it.’”
Not only were the Cowboys finding open shooters all night–particularly Obi Agbim, who finished the night with five made threes for a game high 19 points–but they were also serviceable in the pick and roll, as both Oleg Kojenets and Abou Magassa sprung loose on multiple occasions for wide open dunks.
“We call him always open Oleg,” Wicks joked, speaking of Kojenets, who has seen a recent uptick in minutes and received just his third career start against the Rebels after struggling through the middle of the season and not playing in a number of games early in the conference slate.
“I knew it was time for his consistency to start to kick in,” Wicks continued, “as a coach, you gotta have some feel. You can’t just write guys off, right? My feels are a product of [their] processes…how you give me confidence by me seeing you, every day, do the work, and that’s what [Kojenets] has been doing.”
Oleg throwing down 😤 pic.twitter.com/hSJ83UC602
— Wyoming Cowboy Basketball (@wyo_mbb) January 22, 2025
Kojenets recent increase in minutes–and success, for that matter–is a byproduct of him “accepting and fulfilling” his role on the team, something Wicks also challenged his team to do after their loss to Colorado State. Wicks noted how his team lacked an identity and that they’d have to look within themselves to find, accept and fulfill their role on this team.
“You got to start to have the humility of understanding who you are and who you are not,” Wicks had said after the Border War loss. “There’s enough evidence out there to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do.”
The Cowboys clearly took that to heart and executed their roles perfectly against the Rebels. Magassa, Kojenets and Cole Henry all performed well in the pick and roll, finding wide open looks down low. That opened the floor up for the Cowboys’ shooters, as Kobe Newton, Dontaie Allen, Matija Belic and Agbim all delivered.
The Cowboys also received a much needed boost from Jordan Nesbitt, the second leading scorer and leading rebounder on the team, as he finished with a huge double-double including 13 points and 12 rebounds to go along with three made triples. He also led the team in assists in the contest with six dishes.
“What a game by Nesbitt, man,” Wicks said postgame, as Nesbitt had struggled mightily over the Cowboys’ three game skid, having only shot a combined 3/20 from the field over that stretch.
The Cowboys will hope to draw even in their road record at San Jose State this Saturday, as a win will move them to a 4-4 road split this season. The Spartans have won 2 out of their last 3 contests, so the Cowboys will certainly have to fulfill their roles to the fullest once again if they want to escape the week with a pair of tough conference road victories.
