Senior forward Larry Nance Jr. recorded his first double-double of the season as the Cowboys fell in a defensive battle 45-42 to Cal on Wednesday night in Berkley, Calif.
“I don’t think it was bad offense, both teams were good defensive teams,” Cal head coach Cuonzo Martin said on Calbears.com. “(Wyoming) is normally that way and we’re continuing to make progress defensively.”
Although Nance did have his first double-double of the season, 13 points and 11 boards, he did struggle from the field. He was just 5-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-5 from the charity stripe.
Both teams struggled to shoot as both clubs shot under 40 percent from the field. Cal shot 36.5 percent and Wyoming just 32.6 percent. It marked the first time this season Wyoming has dipped under the 40 percent shooting clip this season. The only other time Wyoming has shot under 50 percent was on the road versus SMU.
It was a back-and-forth affair for the majority of the game. Cal, on two separate occasions in the second half, was able to open up as much as a seven point lead. Wyoming always answered this deficit to bring the game back within a one possession contest.
Cal was led by Wallace who scored his 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Junior forward Christian Behrens was the only other starter, on either team, to shoot at-least 50 percent as he was 5-of-10 from the floor for 12 points. He and Wallace both had eight boards.
Nance was the only Cowboy to score in double figures. Redshirt senior guard Charles Hankerson Jr. had eight points and a season high eight boards, but he – like Nance – struggled from the floor as he was just 2-of-9 from the field.
Junior guard Josh Adams’ foul trouble really changed the way Wyoming looked. He got into foul trouble early in the first half and did not see much of the floor. In the second half his quickness and ability to drive forced more fouls on Cal and put Wyoming in the bonus midway through the second half. The Cowboys were 8-of-11 from the charity stripe, while Cal was just 3-of-7.
Head coach Larry Shyatt played two freshmen in the first half that did not see any minutes in the SMU game. Freshman guard Jeremy Lieberman and freshman guard Alex Aka Gorski both saw significant floor time in the first half, but did not get off the bench in the second half.
Wyoming’s bench went 4-for-7 from the floor as redshirt freshman forward Alan Herndon scored four points on 2-of-4 shooting and redshirt sophomore guard Jason McManamen went 2-of-2 for five points.
The Pokes struggled with turnovers again as they gave the ball away 12 times and only turned the Bears over eight times.
Wyoming will return home to play Montana State at 12 p.m. MST on Sunday.
