(Photo by Autumn McPherson)
The Wyoming Cowboys hosted the Portland Pilots Saturday evening, with both teams looking to extend their undefeated record to 4-0. The Cowboys were able to do just that, dominating the Pilots in the 2nd half and capping their 4 game homestand with a massive 93-56 victory.
It took a second for the Pokes offense to heat up, which was also the case for Portland. Both teams averaged 90 points a game heading into the contest, but the first stretch of this tilt was about the defenses, and both teams were shooting under 30% to begin.
The Pokes struggled from behind the arc, but Uriyah Rojas, coming off a 23 point performance against Austin Peay, knocked down the first Cowboys’ three of the night to get them going. Another big factor playing into the offensive momentum of Wyoming was their ability to come down with rebounds, grabbing 12 offensive rebounds to Portland’s 4 in the first half.
After a bit of a sluggish start, Wyoming pieced together a handful of runs to snag a 41-31 point lead at the break. Abou Magassa, who’s been prolific rebounding the ball for Wyoming, ran into trouble very early into the game and picked up 2 fouls in just the first minute, and sat for the rest of the half. Gavin Gores picked up in his absence and at the half, had scored a team high 9 points and come down with 6 rebounds.
The Pokes wouldn’t be slowed down as they marched out of the locker room, and they picked up right where they left off. 5 minutes in, and they had gone on another run that put them up 55-35 with no signs of stopping. The baskets started raining down and the defense was holding up as Wyoming kept building the gap between them and the Pilots.
It was plethora of Pokes points, putting Portland’s pace in the dust. The 10-point lead swelled to 27-points in just 10 minutes. Dunks, defense, and darts dominated duds from the Pilots. The Cowboys unleashed an insane 19-0 run in 4 minutes, absolutely putting the game away and going up 79-44.
In the end, Wyoming crushed Portland 93-56, with their lead getting all the way up to 40-points at one time. While they may have come out a little slow, the Pokes caught on fire on both sides of the ball to utterly flatten their opponent.
Leland Walker showed up, scoring 15-points, coming down with 7 rebounds, and getting 6 assists too. Jared Harris had the hot hand in the A.A. with his 16-point performance, and a slew of Pokes each reeled in over 5 rebounds each to out rebound the Pilots 48-31. In the end, Wyoming knocked down 13 from beyond the arc and had a 46% field goal percentage on the night.
The Cowboys certainly have been hot offensively this season, keeping that average of over 90-points per game up against Portland, a far cry from their 67.2 just a season ago. While they have played typically weaker opponents thus far, there has certainly been big changes. The Pokes hope to carry this momentum into their first road game against Sam Houston next Wednesday, Nov 19.
