(UW Media Relations Photo)
The Wyoming Cowboys faced off against the Boise State Broncos on Tuesday inside Arena-Auditorium, where the Cowboys got trampled by the Broncos.
The game started with the Cowboys and the Broncos locked in a defensive battle, with the first points coming in the third minute from Wyoming in the form of two free throws. The very next play, the Broncos quickly ran down the court and drained a three to give them the early lead.
The Cowboys would then respond with a nice run of points, including a dunk from Gavin Gores. The Cowboys also maintained great defensive discipline, and to take a good lead of 8-3. The Cowboys’ transition from offense to defense was impressive in the early goings. However, once the Broncos figured out their scheme, the game took a real turn.
The Broncos quickly scored six points of their own, and just like that, the score was 9-8. The Cowboys fought hard, and for the next couple of minutes, the game stayed relatively close. With eight minutes left in the first half, the Cowboys led 14-11, but then their offense dried up.
The Broncos would put up 18 points unanswered until Gores made a layup to make the score 29-16 with two minutes left to play in the first half. In the span of five minutes, the Cowboys had six turnovers and two points. The Broncos’ offense wasn’t stopping, putting up nine more points, while all Wyoming could do was make a single layup before the buzzer sounded for the half, with the score reading 38-18.
The Cowboys needed some major changes at halftime if they wanted to climb out of the massive hole the Broncos put them in.
The second half came, and the Cowboys started hot, cutting down the Broncos’ lead and making it 44-32 with 14 minutes left to play. While the Cowboys’ offense started to pick up steam, their defense started to lose some focus. They became so focused on stopping runs up the middle that they left the sides wide open, and the Broncos took full advantage of that.
With the score 68-48 with five minutes left in the game, the Cowboys’ hopes of winning seemed almost out of reach except for one player. Leland Walker refused to go down without a fight, putting up point after point. Walker seemed to be the only offensive player on the court in the second half.
With two minutes left in the game, the score read 73-56, but Walker wasn’t done. He finished the game with 30 points to his name, a new career high for him.
As time expired, the final score read 81-65 in favor of the Broncos. After the game, the players and coaches shared their opinions on the game when asked why the offense seemed out of rhythm tonight.
“We just have to have guys with the confidence to take shots and do their job on the court,” Gores said.
He then proceeded to say that it starts with him and that he made some mistakes tonight that hurt the team, but that leadership is important to show that these guys care about playing with and for each other on this team.
Head coach Sundance Wicks echoed the same thing his players said, frustrated with his team’s lack of confidence on the offensive side of the ball.
“If you’re not gonna take the open look, then you’re not gonna hit the open look,” Wicks said.
The Cowboys play again on Saturday against San Jose State, where they will look to snap a four game losing streak.
