The Cowboys connected on 13 three pointers coming from six different players in a 83-70 win over New Mexico Highlands in the Arena-Auditorium on Sunday afternoon. All 13 available players played for the Pokes on the night with all 13 playing at least eight minutes or more. Wyoming moves to 5-1 on the season, as UW played their fourth game this week.
“Going into halftime and talking to our team, I told them tonight’s game was about how we could get better, and continue to build good habits,” UW head coach Allen Edwards said. “The first unit did a good job of that at the start of the game. Then, we substituted a lot of guys into the game. To start the second half, we challenged the first unit to come out again with that same intensity, and I thought they did a great job defensively and did a really good job of sharing the ball well offensively, as well.”
“You’ve got to look long-term,” Edwards said. “We have a pretty rough schedule coming up here in the near future against Denver, Drake and South Carolina back-to-back-to-back and so I really didn’t want to keep the major-minute guys out there very long tonight. But I did want them to get a sweat up. I was glad I was able to rest those guys some, and was also happy to give other guys the opportunity to get on the floor and see if they’ve gotten better at some of the things that we’ve talked about as a (coaching) staff.”
The starting front court duo of seniors Alan Herndon and Hayden Dalton led Wyoming in scoring, each with 16 points.
The two were a combined 11-of-15 from the field, 6-of-8 beyond the arc and 4-for-4 at the charity stripe.
Herndon led the team with seven rebounds and a game-high three blocks. Sophomore Cody Kelley recorded 10 points, matching his career best, and dished out a game-high five assists.
The Pokes shot a season-best 45 percent (13-of-29) from behind the arc. The Pokes also shot 50 percent from the field going 31-of-62. Wyoming dished out a season-high 19 assists and tied a season-high with seven blocks. Wyoming only shot nine free throws on the night connecting on eight of those.
“One thing we focus on is keeping track of our offensive efficiency and when we are able to shoot the ball at the clip we shot it at tonight that is a positive,” Edwards said. “When we create shot opportunities when we’re able to drive and kick the basketball to an open man that means we’re doing a good job of sharing the basketball.”
New Mexico Highlands shot 38 percent from the field going 26-of-68 and connected on 40 percent of their three pointers going 10-of-25.
The Pokes raced out to a 6-2 lead in the first two minutes of the contest thanks to a pair of triples from senior guard Alexander Aka Gorski. The Pokes then made it a 15-4 game with a 9-0 run that lasted well over four minutes.
The Cowboys advanced the lead to 21-8 with 11:33 remaining in the opening half. The Pokes did their damage from behind the arc, as 15-of-21 points came from the three ball.
NMHU cut the lead to single digits at 30-21 with under six minutes remaining, as NMHU held the Pokes without a point for over two minutes.
The Pokes moved the lead to 34-21 on a pair of jumpers by junior guard Justin James with under five minutes remaining in the half.
New Mexico Highlands responded with an 8-0 run highlighted with a pair of threes to make it a 34-29 game with 1:07 left in the first half.
The Pokes closed the half on a fast break alley-oop dunk from Kelley to Dalton to make it a 36-29 game at the half.
The Pokes wasted little time to build the lead back to double-digits to open the second half with a 13-2 run to open the frame. Herndon led the charge with eight of the Pokes. Kelley and senior guard Louis Adams hit back-to-back threes later in the half to make it a 70-51 contest.
Adams would hit another three and a jumper to score 8-of-10 points for the Pokes to give UW a 77-55 advantage.
It was his first baskets of the contest, after leading the Pokes in scoring in the Cayman Islands.
An impressive reverse-layup from Kelley capped off the game for Wyoming’s last field goal, and also moved him into double-digit scoring. The bucket gave UW an 82-57 lead with 5:02 left on the clock.
NMHU closed out the final moments on a 13-1 run, but it was not enough to close the deficit. The Cowboys earned their fifth win of the season, 83-70.
Guard Deion Bauman led New Mexico Highlands with 16 points on the night. Guar Jacob Holland added 13 points with Chris Lewis grabbing a game-best 12 rebounds.
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