The Cowboys open the 2018-19 campaign on Thursday at 7 p.m. inside the Arena-Auditorium hosting Colorado Christian in an exhibition contest. Wyoming is coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons under head coach Allen Edwards.
The game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network with Keith Kelley on play-by-play and Liv Roberts on color. Fans can watch the action listen to the game and follow stats on GoWyo.com. The game will be broadcast live on radio over the 25 affiliate stations of the Cowboy Sports Network, as Dave Walsh and Kevin McKinney will call the action.
A Look at the Matchup
Wyoming returns two starters and five letterwinners from last season. The Pokes welcomed nine new players to the lineup this season. That group includes a redshirt, three junior college players and five prep school freshmen.
Edwards became the only coach in Cowboy history to win at least 20 games in his first two seasons as head coach. Wyoming was once again a potent offense last season averaging 79.8 points per game, as UW hit 304 three pointers for the third-most in school history. Wyoming also tied an NCAA record a season ago going 6-0 in overtime joining Chattanooga (1989) to go 6-0 in overtime in a single season.
Colorado Christian went 4-24 last season including a 1-21 mark in the RMAC. The Cougars averaged 73.9 points per game last season, while the opposition poured in 88.2 points per game. The Cougars welcome back two starters that include two their top three scorers.
The Cougars open the season on Tuesday heading to Northern Colorado for an exhibition contest. CCU was a solid shooting team last season, as the Cougars shot 45 percent from the field and 38 percent from the three point line.
Each Team’s Leaders
Wyoming returns two starters in senior guard Justin James and sophomore guard Hunter Maldonado. James was a First Team All-Mountain West selection last season averaging 18.9 points per game to go along with 6.0 rebounds per night and 3.1 assists per game. In conference play, James averaged 20.8 points per game ranking second in the MW. James scored 20 or more points 15 times this season including a career-high 33 points on two occasions. Maldonado averaged 5.3 points per game and 2.2 rebounds per night.
Other returners include senior guard Nyaires Redding (3.7 PPG, 1.3 APG), senior forward Jordan Naughton (2.0 PPG, 1.2 RPG) and sophomore forward Austin Mueller (1.1 PPG, 0.5 RGP). Redshirt freshman Hunter Thompson earned valuable experience last season redshirting for the Cowboys.
The Cougar’s top returner is guard Jeremiah Hanson. The senior averaged 15.0 points per game a season ago to go along with 4.5 rebounds per night. He hit a team-high 66 three pointers last season. Fellow guard Stefan Hackethal added 13.7 points per game and also added 2.5 assists per night. Forward Marcus Fager added 8.3 points per game and also tied Hanson for the team lead with 4.5 rebounds per game.
About the Series
Thursday’s game is the second meeting between the two schools. The Cowboys defeated Cougars in a regular season game on Dec. 5, 2016 in the Arena-Auditorium by a score of 67-60.
Up Next
The Cowboys officially open the season next Tuesday hosting UC Santa Barbara at 8 p.m. inside the Arena-Auditorium. That can be seen on AT&T SportNet.