The old adage “live by the three, die by the three” tends to hold true as a golden rule of college basketball.

The Utes (8-10, 1-3 MWC) knocked down 12 of 27 attempts from beyond the arc to establish a big lead early in the first half and ultimately put the game out of reach, defeating Wyoming 68-51 on Saturday afternoon in Laramie.

The Cowboys (8-10, 1-3 MWC) shot 35.8 percent from the field and hit just two 3-pointers. In the first half, Wyoming made just 9 of 29 field goal attempts.

“I thought we were just very inept offensively, and (Utah) had a lot to do with that,” Wyoming head coach, Heath Schroyer, said in his post-game press conference. “We really had a hard time making jump shots. We’re not going to win any games when we shoot 35 percent from the floor, 20 percent from three, and 61 percent from the free-throw line.”

After falling behind 37-21 at half, Wyoming whittled Utah’s lead down to single digits midway through the second half, but every single time the Cowboys seemed to approach striking distance, the Utes answered with a clutch three-pointer.

Trailing 46-28 early in the second half, the Cowboys went on an 8-0 run punctuated by a Desmar Jackson runner, which floated just over an outstretched defender and dropped into the bucket to pull the Cowboys within 10 with 15:01 remaining.

7’3” Utah center David Foster knocked down a turnaround jumper to put Utah back up by 12, but Wyoming immediately answered back with a JayDee Luster 3-pointer, one of only two the Cowboys were able to hit the entire afternoon, to pull within 48-39 with 13:26 to go.

“We came out of a timeout and just didn’t execute, and they hit the three and got all the momentum back,” Wyoming center Adam Waddell said. “We got down right away, and we couldn’t pull back.”

Wyoming had no answer for Clyburn, who posed an inextricable matchup problem throughout the afternoon as the difference maker for the Utes. Clyburn scored 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Watkins added 16 for the Utes, and Shawn Glover chipped in 10.

Jackson led the way with 17 points for the Cowboys, and M’Baye added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cowboys, however, were once again hampered by injuries – especially in the frontcourt.

Waddell and senior forward Djibril Thiam were both slowed by nagging injuries, and Luster was also returning from a hip-pointer injury and was not at 100 percent.

The Cowboys will have a week to rest before they travel to Air Force next Saturday afternoon. 

“We’ve got to get healthy,” Schroyer said. 

“It’s been tough not having guys in practice; we haven’t been able to go 5-on-5, full court for a long time, and that’s part of the reason why we haven’t played well the past two games.”