Cowboy basketball remains on road after loss

Written by Britt Marsh

Friday, 05 December 2008 10:21

Coming off of a heartbreaking 86-85 loss to Boise State Wednesday night, the Wyoming Cowboys fortunately did not have to stew over the loss on the long trip back to Laramie.

Instead, they had to replay their first lost of the season in Boise hotel rooms and the Boise State workout facility yesterday.

As is usually the case, it actually wasn’t the inclement weather in Laramie that caused the Poke’s layover in Idaho. With a game scheduled against Loyola-Marymount in Los Angeles this Saturday, Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer thought it would be best for his team to just stay on the road.

Given the winter weather common in the region, it simply made more sense for his team to stay in Boise rather than waste a day traveling back, only to have to fly to L.A. the next day.

Schroyer said that his team will have to do a much similar overnight stay later in conference play against Brigham Young University and New Mexico, and this was a good opportunity to experience this type of road trip.

“We’re going to practice and lift in Boise on Thursday to prepare for LMU,” Schroyer said. “This gives us a chance to bond as a group, with obviously one purpose in mind and that is to try and win games.”

The Cowboys will not have as much jet lag to worry about, but they still must put the Boise loss behind them to prepare for a young, struggling LMU team.

The Lions have an interim head coach in Max Good (former coach Bill Bayno took a leave of absence due to health reasons), average a mere 54 points per game, have yet to win a game all year and their active roster contains just eight total players, seven of whom are on scholarship.

They also just completed a grueling 10-day road trip in which they played a basketball game in every continental U.S. time zone. Unfortunately, things likely won’t improve for LMU as they host Wyoming in their Homecoming game.

The transition game and offensive firepower of the Cowboys seems to be too fast for the undermanned Lions to keep up with. Sean Ogirri scored a season high 22 to pace the Cowboys against Boise State, while Afam Muojeke, Tyson Johnson and Brandon Ewing all finished in double figures for Wyoming.

With such depth and ability, Schroyer will expect a lot of points from his team.

Offensive scoring hasn’t been a problem for the Pokes, but it is their inability to limit their opponents’ baskets that cost them in Idaho.

Boise State’s Mark Sanchez scored a game high 24 points, including the game winner with nine tenths of a second left and former Wyoming Cowboy Ike Okoye went off for 21 points against his former team, well above his season average.

Defense doesn’t figure to be as much of a problem against the low-scoring Lions, but Wyoming can still use their upcoming game to improve defensively and Schroyer is not letting his team overlook LMU.

“All the games that [LMU] played have been close [and] they’ve been on the road a lot,” Schroyer said. “It’s going to be a hard game. I know they’re going to be ready to play and try to get a win at home.”

After leaving Idaho and flying into Los Angeles International Airport Friday morning, the Pokes have one more day to rest and prepare for Saturday’s game against LMU. Game time is set for 8 p.m.

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