Pokes Get Long-Awaited MWC Victory
By
Published 1-27-2008
It took 26 days, but Wyoming finally got back on the winning side of things.
Saturday’s 73-58 victory over Colorado State saw the Cowboys get their first conference win of the season—and their first win since 2007.
Prior to Saturday, Wyoming was in the midst of a five-game losing streak, with its last win on Dec. 31 against Division II Chadron State.
“It feels good. I was telling guys earlier that it feels like we won the Super Bowl,” said Brandon Ewing, who finished the game with 19 points, five assists and five steals. “It’s our first win in 2008, so we’re happy about it, and hopefully it’ll get us going.”
The Cowboys (7-11 overall, 1-5 Mountain West) used stiff defense to hand CSU (6-13 overall, 0-5 Mountain West) its sixth consecutive loss. CSU head coach Tim Miles pointed to his team’s overall attitude as the reason for shooting just 34 percent for the game.
“I thought our shot quality was good, but guys were kind of falling out of their shots, and those are the things that tell me our guys aren’t confident enough to take shots,” Miles said.
But it was more than poor shooting that doomed the Rams. They were outrebounded 47-40 and turned the ball over 16 times.
The Cowboys were boosted by the play of their frontcourt, with center Travis Nelson and forward Joseph Taylor combining for 30 points and 19 rebounds. Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer singled them out as one of the factors in the victory.
“We’ve really made a conscious effort the last couple of weeks [to get them involved], and our big guys are getting better,” Schroyer said. “Going back and watching film [of previous games], we became so perimeter-oriented and three-point-shooting-oriented. We had to establish an inside game.”
CSU came out firing after the opening tip and quickly built a 12-5 lead. But Wyoming went on a 26-7 run at the 13:18 mark in the first half and built a 31-19 lead late in the period. The teams went into the intermission with the score 33-23 Wyoming.
The Rams got 26 points and three steals from Marcus Walker in the losing cause, while Willis Gardner added 10 points and four rebounds.
The Cowboys had four players in double figures, including Ewing. Brad Jones had 11 points, Taylor had 14 and Nelson added 16 points.
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