(Laramie, WY) – The Wyoming Cowboys held Nevada to 30 percent from the field for a season-low for a UW opponent in a 71-64 win over the Wolf Pack in the Arena-Auditorium on Friday evening in Laramie, Wyo. The Pokes held Nevada to 21 points in the first half to improve to 9-5 overall and 3-4 in conference play with Nevada falling to 10-6 overall and 5-4 in conference play.
“I thought our collective effort defensively was a step in the right direction,” UW head coach Jeff Linder said. “We can score the ball, but if you can’t get stops you’re not going to win very many games. Coach (Ken) DeWeese came up with a great game plan defensively. To hold a team like Nevada to 64 points was encouraging. For us to hold them to only 34 percent shooting was a really big step in the right direction for our team.
“We always talk about how are we going to respond in a game and how we have a choice when the game gets tight whether we’re going to battle through or not,” Linder said. “Luckily we’ve been in a lot of close games and for the most part we’ve responded well. To have that 20-point lead, lose it and then regain it was big for us. Marcus (Williams) made a huge play at a critical time and at one point we had Graham Ike, Marcus and X (Xavier DuSell) on the court — three true freshmen — with two sophomores in Kenny (Foster) and Kwane (Marble). For them to not feel sorry for themselves and put together that 9-1 run from the seven-minute mark to the four-minute mark was the difference in the game.”
The Cowboys were led by sophomores Kenny Foster and Kwane Marble the second each with 15 points. Foster tied a season-high with seven rebounds and has scored in double-figures in six games this season. Marble II has scored in double-figures five games this season. Freshman Xavier DuSell added 14 points, as he knocked down four three pointers on the night. Fellow freshman Marcus Williams added 13 points and has scored in double-figures in every game this season. He also tied for the team high with Junior Hunter Maldonado with five assists.
“Kenny came up with some really big plays,” Linder said. “For all those guys to get on the glass. Kenny had seven rebounds. Maldo (Hunter Maldonado) had five. Marcus had five. Kwane had four, and I thought (Hunter) Thompson, even though he only had six points, I thought he played really well and he grabbed five rebounds.”
Wyoming shot 41 percent from the field for the night and knocked down 12 three pointer for their ninth game with 10 or more threes. Wyoming leads the conference in three pointers this season. UW held the Wolf Pack to 16 percent from behind the arc going 4-of-25. In the last two games, the Pokes are holding opponents to 14 percent. Nevada held a 43-38 advantage on the glass and the two teams combined for 32 points off turnovers.
Foster got the Pokes off to a 5-0 start with a layup and three ball in the first two possessions of the game for the Brown and Gold. But the Wolf Pack responded with a pair of baskets to make it a 5-4 contest two minutes into the game.
Nevada added five more points to cap a 9-0 run for a 9-5 advantage, as the run cut off by a three from Marble II for a 9-8 game with 14:06 remaining in the first half. Thompson added a three pointer a minute later to regain the lead for the Pokes at 11-9.
Maldonado extended the Pokes lead to six points at 17-11 with a running hook shot with 8:58 left in the opening frame and Williams followed with a basket to cap a 14-2 Wyoming run. Wyoming held the Wolf Pack to 1-of-7 shooting for a stretch along with three turnovers and built a 10 point lead at 25-15 on a DuSell triple with 3:46 in the first half.
The Cowboys would take a 33-21 lead into the half holding the Wolf Pack to 30 percent from the field, as it was a season-low for Wyoming opponent in the opening 20 minutes. Wyoming knocked down eight three points in the first frame.
Just like the opening of the first half the Pokes used a 5-0 run and built a 38-21 lead thanks to a pair of free throws from Marble II and a triple from Maldonado. Foster added to the run with a three pointer to build the lead to 20 points with 17:41 left to play.
Wyoming went scoreless for nearly four minutes, as Nevada cut the Wyoming lead to 41-27 with 14 minutes left. Nevada would cut the lead to 10 points at 44-34 at the 12:24 mark with a three pointer from Desmond Cambridge, Jr.
Nevada went on a 10-0 run over two minutes to make a 44-41 game in favor of the Pokes with 10:26 left in the contest, as a pair of threes led the surge for the Wolf Pack. Nevada took the lead on a dunk from Warren Washington for a 49-48 game at the 7:20 mark.
After a dunk from Marcus Williams to take a brief lead, Foster would add a three pointer a minute later along with a pair of free throws for a 55-50 lead for the Pokes with 5:21 remaining. Marble added a layup off a dish from Williams for a seven point lead 30 seconds later.
Wyoming would push the lead 10 points at 63-53 on a DuSell three pointer with 2:47 remaining in the game. Nevada would go on a 5-0 run for a 63-58 game. Williams added a pair of free throws to make it a seven point game with roughly 90 seconds remaining.
Williams would knock down free throws for the Pokes late to seal the 71-64 win.
The Wolf Pack were led by Washington with 21 points, as he also tied for the team lead with nine rebounds. Cambridge added 16 points for Nevada. The Pokes held Nevada’s leading scorer Grant Sherfield to 10 points below his season average.
Wyoming and Nevada will wrap up their series on Sunday with a 2 p.m. start on CBS Sports Network.
—— COWGIRLS ——
The Wyoming Cowgirls’ second half comeback bid fell short Friday night on the road as the Cowgirls lost at Nevada, 60-52. The 12-point deficit UW faced heading into the second half proved too much to overcome after the Wolf Pack shot 60 percent in the first half.
Nevada (6-6, 2-5 MW) went 15-for-25 in the opening 20 minutes while the Cowgirls shot just 7-of-18 (39 percent), committed 11 turnovers and trailed at halftime 32-20. For the game, Wyoming (6-6, 4-5 MW) shot 38.5 percent and went just 3-of-21 from 3-point range. The Wolf Pack shot 47 percent from the floor overall.
Alba Sanchez Ramos led three Cowgirls in double figures on the night as she scored a game-high 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including a 6-for-6 performance at the free-throw line. Sanchez Ramos also had a block and a steal on the defensive end in the loss. McKinley Bradshaw and Quinn Weidemann each dropped in 10. Weidemann hit two of the Cowgirls’ three 3-pointers in the loss while Bradshaw went 5-of-10 from the floor and added a team-high five rebounds.
The Wolf Pack out-rebounded Wyoming 36-24 in the contest and had a 12-8 edge in points off turnovers. The Cowgirls, despite getting out-rebounded, had a 5-4 edge in second-chance points while also outscoring the Wolf Pack 30-26 in the paint.
Nevada jumped out to a big lead after one quarter of play, 20-10, behind the strength of a 9-for-12 shooting performance in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Wolf Pack extended their lead to as many as 14, 30-26 with 6:04 to go in the half and carried that 32-20 advantage into the break.
The Cowgirls would slowly chip away at the deficit in the third, outscoring the Wolf Pack 15-4 to open the quarter and getting to within four points at 39-35 thanks to a Marta Savic layup. Four points would be as close as the Cowgirls would get the rest of the third and trailed 43-37 going to the fourth.
In the fourth, Nevada got back-to-back hoops sandwiched around a Tommi Olson free throw and led 47-38 with 8:31 to play. Trailing 49-41, UW got a 3-pointer by Sanchez Ramos and then a jumper by Bradshaw to get within three, 49-46, but wouldn’t get any closer as a 6-0 run by Nevada stretched the lead back out to 55-46 with just 33 seconds to play.
Nevada was led in the game by Megan Ormiston, who scored 14 points and grabbed five boards. Nia Alexander chipped in with 11 on the night.
The Cowgirls will now look to rebound in Nevada Sunday afternoon as the two teams will play their series finale at 2 p.m., in Reno.