(UW Media Relations Photo)
The Wyoming basketball team’s first round matchup against the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels in the Mountain West Championship Tournament had all the makings of a blowout after one half of play.
The Cowboys trailed the Rebels by as many as 16 points late in the first half, as their offense sputtered early – and the Rebels the exact opposite. A late three by freshman Nasir Meyer drew the Cowboys within 13 by halftime, but the Cowboys still had quite the hill to climb if they wanted to make the game competitive.
The Cowboys shot just 12-of-38 (31.6%) and a staggering 2-of-17 from deep, including 14 straight three-point misses to open the game. The Cowboys were outrebounded 20-to-17 in the opening frame as well, and the conference’s leading scorer and Newcomer of the Year Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn had already poured in 15 points to lead all scorers at the half.
“I’m going to tip my cap to UNLV, they came out with their hair on fire in the first half. I think that really kind of put us on our heels and we had a big hole to dig out of,” Wyoming head coach Sundance Wicks said.
It seemed as if the Cowboys’ Mountain West tournament bid was going to flame out in a whimper in the first round of the tournament for the fourth year in a row.
It very quickly became evident in the second half that the Cowboys weren’t going down without a fight.
Cowboys come out HOT 🔥
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) March 11, 2026
📺MWN pic.twitter.com/Cf9JtpiHBq
The Cowboys burst out of the locker room with a quick 6-0 start to cut the lead to seven points. The Rebels would answer, but the Cowboys would stay hot in the early goings of the second half to extend that run to 17-5 to make it a one-point game at 49-48.
It was game on from that point.
The Cowboys would take their first lead since they led the game at 4-2 with a Damarion Dennis layup to make it a 56-55 game with just over eight minutes to go. It was a back-and-forth affair for a remainder of the contest from that point on.
Freshman Gavin Gores would give the Cowboys a 70-68 lead with 37 seconds remaining in the contest after a strong take to the basket, but the Rebels would answer that with an and-one on the other end that would give them a one-point lead.
With 17 seconds remaining in the contest, the Cowboys went to Meyer for an attempt to take the lead. His mid-range jumpshot was unable to draw iron, but Dennis was able to secure the offensive rebound. His second chance effort was erased by UNLV’s Tyrin Jones, as his sixth block of the game secured the win for the Rebels, who would slip past the Cowboys by a final score of 73-70.
“I thought it was a great look,” Wicks said of Meyer’s game-winning shot attempt.
“Damarion got the ball, got the rebound, shot it. I think in those moments – I’m just being honest – you call a goaltending. You know why? Because you can review it. That’s just what I think, no matter what happens you call the goaltend because at least then you can go there and be like ‘hey, it wasn’t a goaltend.’
“Make the call, go review it, and then just go see where it’s at, and I could live with that.”
The Cowboys finished the contest 26-of-70 (37.1%) from the field and 3-of-21 (14.3%) from deep. Those numbers loomed large for the Cowboys, who ended up outrebounding the Rebels 43-to-36, including 21 offensive rebounds. The Cowboys – and Dennis in particular – also held Gibbs-Lawhorn off the scoresheet in the second half.
“We won in every statistical category except making shots. So, the outlier here is you can never put value on if you can you make shots, but you’re gonna have to make them in March if you want to continue to play,” Wicks said.
The Cowboys only finished with five turnovers as well, most in part due to the play by senior point guard Leland Walker finishing with six assists and just one turnover – who, bar a postseason tournament invite, played his final game in a Wyoming uniform.
“I can’t speak enough on how proud I am of Leland, what he’s done the last four games. One turnover in the last four games, he’s led our team. He’s the single reason our guys show up with great energy, effort, enthusiasm every day because he’s an every day dude as a leader,” Wicks said.
Wicks was adamant about his team receiving a post-season tournament invite post-game, as well – something his team is eager to compete in regardless of their most recent result.
“We’re just not gonna shed any tears up here right now because we’re gonna try to keep playing postseason basketball,” Wicks said.
“That’s our number-one goal is to try and play with this team for as long as we can.”
