by Keith Kelley–15 Jan ’15
San Diego State proved why they are one of the teams to beat in the Mountain West, as they went to the Arena Auditorium and knocked off the #25 Wyoming Cowboys, 60-52, giving the Pokes their first home loss of the season. The Aztecs built upon a two point halftime lead (26-24), and opened up a 12 point advantage, 48-36, with a little less than nine minutes to play.
But the Aztecs would go scoreless for over six minutes, but in that time, the Cowboys were only able to score five points, as the Aztecs knocked down their free-throws in the stretch run. The loss snaps a 13-game home winning streak for the Cowboys this season, and also gives them their first loss in the Mountain West.
Wyoming had their chances during that scoring drought by San Diego State, but just couldn’t take care of the ball, or get a shot to fall. Rebounding also hurt the Cowboys, as the Aztecs pulled down 13 offensive boards in the game, including a possession with four offensive rebounds. Junior guard Josh Adams, who finished with 14 points, said that was a big key in the loss.
Turnovers were also a problem, as a very athletic San Diego State defense put the pressure on full court, forcing 13 Wyoming turnovers, which is very uncharacteristic for the Cowboys. Adams says that the Aztec defense was as good as advertised, but they just didn’t take care of the ball very well.
Senior forward Larry Nance, Junior had another big game, leading Wyoming with 19 points and eight boards. He says that the Cowboys played very hard, it was San Diego State that just came out and beat them.
San Diego State shot just 36.7% from the field for the game, but started the second half 7-11, as they opened up that 12 point lead. Wyoming shot 18-43 from the field, 41.9%.
The Cowboys fall to 15-3 on the season, and 4-1 in the Mountain West. They are at Fresno State this weekend. Tip off is set for 5 pm mountain time, Saturday evening.
