by Keith Kelley–4 Feb ’15
The Wyoming Cowboys put their stamp on tonight’s (Wednesday) Border War battle with Colorado State early on, as they rolled to a 59-48 over the Rams. It’s the first regular season sweep of CSU since the 2008-09 season.
Wyoming held the Rams scoreless over the first five minutes of the game as they continually frustrated CSU, who came in as one of the top offensive teams in the Mountain West. Wyoming held the Rams to just 30% shooting for the game, and a dismal 3-25 from three-point range. Head coach Larry Shyatt said the big key in this game was getting back on defense and making sure CSU didn’t get a good look early in the shot clock.
Wyoming led from start to finish in the game and led by 11 at the half, 26-15. The Cowboys had more of the same for Colorado State, leading by as much as 16 in the second half, as they dominated things from start to finish. Senior forward Larry Nance, Jr., who finished with another double-double, 19 points and ten rebounds, said the Cowboys defensive effort was pretty special.
Wyoming also got a big spark off the bench from an unlikely source. Already down one man, with redshirt freshman Alan Herndon out indefinitely with mono, freshman Jeremy Lieberman came off the bench with eight points. It was necessary for him to have an impact with Riley Grabau in early foul trouble. Lieberman played 16 big minutes, and says it felt good to get in the mix with some meaningful minutes.
The Cowboys got one of their better games from the bench. With Charles Hankerson, Jr. and Josh Adams struggling offensively, the Wyoming bench chipped in with 16 points. Derek Cooke, Jr. also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Grabau finished with ten points.
For the second straight game, the Cowboys out-rebounded a team that typically would have an advantage on the glass, as Wyoming bested the Rams on the boards by one.
The Cowboys are now 19-4 overall and 8-2 in the Mountain West. They are at Air Force Saturday afternoon.
