Cowboys Can’t Slow Down Spartan Attack in 82-73 Loss on Saturday

Pokes at Nevada on Tuesday

LARAMIE, Wyo.  (Feb. 22, 2025) – The Wyoming Cowboys could not slow down San Jose State’s attack in the paint in an 82-73 loss on Saturday afternoon in the Arena-Auditorium. The Pokes lead by 13 points in the first frame, but the Spartans scored 17 points off turnovers in the victory.

“Missed opportunity is the easiest way to describe this,” UW head coach Sundance Wicks said. “The message to the locker room was you need to be at your best when your best is needed. I’ll give credit to coach Miles and San Jose State. They decided to play five guards and their five guards were going to be one-one better than the five players we had on the floor, and they were going to finish tough shots. We had guys in position but couldn’t get the miss.”

Wyoming was led in scoring by Obi Agbim with 20 points hitting four threes in the contest for his 13^th game this season with three or more triples in a game. It was his ninth game with 20 or more points this season. Jordan Nesbitt added a season-high 18 points for his 13^th game this season in double-figures. He also added seven rebounds in the contest with Abou Magassa adding seven as well. Cole Henry added 11 points for his ninth game in double-figures and his fourth game in the last five with double-digits.

Wyoming shot 47.3 percent in the contest and were 8-of-19 from behind the arc for 42.1percent. UW had six threes in the first half. The Spartans were 48.3 percent from the field and added seven threes and scored 12 points in transition. Wyoming held a 34-33 advantage on the glass for the afternoon. 

Neither team could find points in the opening two minutes. Henry opened the scoring with a free throw and SJSU answered with a freebie of their own for a 1-1 contest with 17:26 left in the opening frame. Henry would make it a brief lead until a triple by San Jose State made it a 4-3 contest.

Agbim would hit back-to-back threes for a 9-4 lead with under 15 minutes left in the opening frame. Magassa and Oleg Kojenets added a bucket followed by a corner three from A.J. Wills for a 13-0 run for a 16-4 lead with under 13 minutes left in the half.

The Spartans drove to the paint and made it a seven-point game, but another three-pointer from Wills made it a 22-12 with under 10 minutes left in the opening stanza. Nesbitt added an and-one for a 25-12 contest with 8:09 left in the half. 

Nesbitt found Henry for a slam and Agbim added his third triple for a 30-17 lead with under six minutes left in the half. But the Spartans went on 8-0 for a five-point game at 30-25 near the five-minute mark. The Spartans would make 6-of-8 field goals cut the lead to one-point, but Agbim added a three, but another bucket by SJSU made it a 39-37 led for UW at the half.

After the Spartans tied the contest in the opening seconds of the second half, Wyoming held them without a bucket for nearly three minutes for a 46-41 lead, as Nesbitt added the charge with five points to get to double figures.

But the Spartans hit three-straight shots and added an and-one play for their first lead of the game at 50-59 with 14:31 left in the contest. Wyoming went scoreless for over three minutes, but Henry added free throws for a 51-50 lead for the Cowboys with 12 minutes left.

Wyoming went without a field goal for over minutes with the Spartans taking a 54-51 lead. The Pokes would take the lead twice but could not stop the Spartans from scoring in the paint leading by one with eight minutes left.

The Spartans attack gave them a 64-61 lead with under six minutes to go with the Spartans hitting five-straight shots. It would end in eight-straight shots and a 71-63 lead with 3:42 left in the game. The lead was pushed to double digits at 12 with under three minutes left.

Wyoming made it a 75-68 game with a bucket from Agbim and a three-pointer from Nesbitt. But the Spartans moved the lead back to double-digits and would take the contest 82-73 taking the season series.

The Spartans were led by Josh Uduje added 29 points in the contest going 11-of-16 from the field and 3-of-3 from behind the arc. He was one of four players in double-figures, as Donovan Yap and Sadaidriene Hall added 16 each.

The Cowboys return to action on Tuesday with a trip to Nevada set for an 8 p.m. start on the Mountain West Network.