Cowboy Basketball Dominates Western State in Season Opener

An 18-2 start propelled the Wyoming Cowboys to a 78-39 win over Western State in their season opener on Saturday in the Arena-Auditorium. Luke Martinez and Leonard Washington, both redshirt juniors, led the way for the Pokes with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

UW took a 48-15 lead into the locker room after holding the Mountaineers to just 2 points through the first five minutes of play. In the second half the Cowboys built a 49 point lead, at 78-29 with 7:46 to go. Unfortunately, turnovers plagued Wyoming the rest of the way and UW couldn't post any more points the rest of the way and Western State closed the gap to 78-39 when the clock ran out.

"In those first five minutes, I thought our guys did a good job and we were solid as a rock defensively. We did a good job removing open looks for the first 30 minutes until the game got a little sloppy. Coaches always say bad offense leads to bad defense, and that's exactly what we looked like the last six minutes. Because of our offense and poor pass selection and maybe a couple shot selections, the other team got the ball and put it in the hole."
-Coach Shyatt

The quick start allowed Head Coach Larry Shyatt to show off his bench for much of the game. All 14 players on the roster found their way onto the court and 13 players were in for more than 10 minutes.

The Cowboys shot 53.8 percent from the field and 33.3 percent  from 3-point range while hitting 85 percent of their free throws. Wyoming out-rebounded Western State 40-to-25 and grabbed 15 steals.

UW will host another game on Tuesday, Nov. 15 against Northern Colorado. That game will tip-off at 7 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium with coverage on Y95 Country at 6:30 p.m.