Cowboy Comeback Falls Short in Second Half Against Boise State, 67-58

Wills records career-high 17 points 

LARAMIE, Wyo.  (Dec. 31, 2024) – The Wyoming Cowboys battled back after a slow start to take a second half lead but fell in the end to Mountain West Preseason favorite Boise State by a tally of 67-58 on Tuesday evening in the Arena-Auditorium. The loss marked the first of the season for the Cowboys at home and snapped a three-game winning streak for the Pokes.

“Got the game we wanted, but we just didn’t get the outcome we wanted,” UW head coach Sundance Wicks.” We have been in a lot of these games and teams have to go through things and carry that over in the future. We have some toughness and that is what seasoned teams have and we need to find some more.”

The Pokes shot 35.1 percent from the field and hit nine threes with six coming in the second half. Boise State shot 45.7 percent and knocked down eight threes in the contest shooting 40 percent. The Broncos held a 41-28 advantage on the glass, but Wyoming recorded nine offensive boards. Wyoming recorded a season-low seven turnovers.

A.J. Wills recorded a career-high 17 points off the bench. He hit a career-best five threes on the night going 5-of-7 from behind the arc. Obi Agbim added 14 points and has scored in double-figures in every game this season. Dontaie Allen added eight points and added a pair of threes, as he has eight in conference play. Matija Belic tied a career-high with six rebounds on the night.

The Cowboys were cold from the field early with the Broncos building an early 6-2 lead in the opening three minutes. Wyoming would later go scoreless for over three minutes with Boise State building a 11-2 lead.

Wyoming went scoreless for nearly six minutes with the Broncos building a 17-5 lead. Agbim stopped the run, but a three-pointer by Boise State made it a 20-9 game with six and a half minutes left in the half.

The Pokes would then go on a 10-0 run started by a slam from Abou Magassa and capped by a pair of threes from Agbim and Wills for a 20-17 game for Boise State near the four-minute mark of the half.

The Cowboys went scoreless for the final two minutes as the Broncos took a 25-19 lead at the break. Wyoming was held to 24 percent from the field with the Broncos shooting 44 percent.

After the Pokes recorded a bucket and a free throw to open the half, a triple by Boise State made it a 28-22 game, but Jordan Nesbitt added an and-one play, but was responded with another three pointer by the Broncos.

The Pokes made it a four-point game and held Boise State scoreless for over two and half minutes, but the Broncos made it a 35-37 contest. A pair of free throws from Belic and a triple from Allen made it a 35-34 a game for Boise State with under 12 and a half minutes left.

Wyoming held the Broncos without a field goal for over four minutes and a triple from Wills gave Wyoming a 39-38 lead halfway through the second half. But Boise State responded with a three-ball for a two-point lead.

Boise State pushed the lead to five points, but a tough bucket by Agbim made it a three-point game. But the game was pushed back to five points at 51-46 with five minutes left. Wyoming went scoreless for over two minutes as Boise State built a 54-46 lead with under four minutes to play. The teams traded threes for a 57-59 game with 2:22 left and sealed the game at the free throw line despite late efforts by the Cowboys for a 67-58 game.

The Broncos were led by Alvaro Cardenas with 19 points. He also added six assists. Tyson Degenhart added 16 points and nine rebounds.

Wyoming hits the road and makes the trip down to Front Range foe Air Force on Saturday for a 3 p.m. start inside Clune Arena.