There have been two different forms of the Wyoming Cowboy men’s basketball team this year–and in the span of just two games against two wildly different teams with varying degrees of success this season–we saw both sides of the Cowboys. Just three days ago, we witnessed the Cowboys’ near the height of which they can play, as they nearly defeated San Diego State but just were befell by a score of 72-69.
But, against a lowly and fairly depleted Fresno State Bulldogs’ team that was 1-17 in league play to this point and amidst a gambling scandal in their program, we saw what the floor for this team is.
And it was pretty low.
While the loss may not come as a surprise after the Cowboys had just escaped the Bulldogs in the first meeting between these two–winning in overtime after Obi Agbim had propelled the game to that point with a last second triple in regulation–it was still a rather poor showing for a team that has shown much promise throughout the year and gives the Cowboys little momentum for a postseason run at the Mountain West tournament in just one week’s time.
“I told them I’m going to flush this in 24 hours,” head coach Sundance Wicks said of his team’s performance against the Bulldogs.
While the tape of this game may never be viewed again within the confines of Wicks’ team, the atrocity that was the Cowboys’ offense–against the worst defense in the league, nonetheless–will likely stay fresh in the minds of the team as they prepare for the tournament.
The Cowboys struggled against the Bulldogs’ zone defense, which forced the Cowboys to shoot upwards of 40 threes in the contest. While that number alone wasn’t of any concern to Wicks, he was concerned by just how little the Cowboys were able to convert on open looks from deep–to which there were many that the Cowboys flatly just missed.
“Crap, me and my staff could have gone out there and shot some of those open looks that we got, and that’s just what it is when you play against a zone, we’re going to have to hit shots,” Wicks said.
The Cowboys ended up making just 12 of their 40 attempts from deep, good for exactly 30% from beyond the arc. Combine that with the Cowboys converting only 32.8% of their overall attempts from the field and being outrebounded by 12, and you don’t necessarily have a recipe for success.
Agbim finished the night leading the Cowboys in scoring with 17 points after not having scored in the opening half of play. He was paced by Kobe Newton scoring 15 points, as those two would combine for a rather middling 10/27 from deep. Dontaie Allen would round out the scorers in double figures for the Cowboys with 14 points. No other player who touched the floor for the Cowboys would score over four points, but Touko Tainamo did finish tying a season-high in rebounds at eight.
While the bracket has yet to be completely finalized, the Cowboys have guaranteed themselves as the nine seed in the upcoming Mountain West tournament, where they will be slated to play San Jose State in the first round and then New Mexico in the quarterfinals, if they are to make it to that point.
