Head coach Sundance Wicks noted earlier this season that he felt like his team typically plays up and down to the level of their competition. The Cowboys’ several close games this season–to both very good, and pretty bad teams–excellently demonstrates his point.
Tonight, however, the first year head man was disappointed in his team’s attitude and effort, as they did not play near to the level they needed to sweep the season series against the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels.
“We had a very lackluster attitude…and very uninspired effort, plain and simple. That’s not good enough to beat a team that was desperate on a five game losing streak, that really needed a win,” Wicks said postgame.
Wicks also noted that while the numbers and shooting percentages were very ugly for the Cowboys tonight, it was not what ultimately lost them the contest by a final score of 68-57. That attitude and effort–which was very much present in the Cowboys’ road win over the Rebels earlier this season–is what ultimately costed the Cowboys their ninth conference loss of the season, as the Cowboys have now fallen to a rather disappointing 4-9 in league play, despite their competitiveness against every conference opponent this season.
Trying to battle back 😤 pic.twitter.com/WMozSdGiiL
— Wyoming Cowboy Basketball (@wyo_mbb) February 8, 2025
“You could see a big difference in the bench and the energy, the enthusiasm, the effort, there was a massive difference in the first time we played UNLV,” Wicks said.
“[It’s] the tale of two tapes, as they say.”
It also helped that the Cowboys were able to knock down 14/28 attempts from deep in that road win in Vegas, as compared to a harrowing 4/21 mark in today’s contest. The Cowboys have also given away a lot of points at the free throw line–much as been the theme of late for the Pokes, as well–as the Rebels finished the contest 16/19 from the charity stripe. The Cowboys, in contrast, ended up finishing a polarizing 3/9 from the free throw line.
“You have to be disciplined enough to defend without fouling,” Wicks said postgame, as the Cowboys have allotted their opponents a combined 78 trips to the free throw in their recent three game losing stretch.
Ultimately, it seems like the Cowboys’ biggest enemy as we approach March is themselves. Will the Cowboys be able to get out of their own heads down the stretch of the season, or will their season just fade into another relatively unsuccessful campaign on the high plains of Laramie?
“We need to find the consistency before March, or we’re going to be another season that we forget about,” an emotional Cole Henry said postgame, “and that hurts my heart, because this is my last one,”
