Cowboys Struggle Offensively in Second Half in 71-67 Loss to Utah State

Pokes at home on Saturday against UNLV

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Feb. 4, 2025) – The Wyoming Cowboys went cold down the stretch in a 71-67 loss to Utah State on Tuesday evening in the Arena-Auditorium. The Aggies, who are receiving votes in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls held the Cowboys to 34.5 percent in the second half to earn their 20th win of the season. Wyoming was without the services of leading scorer Obi Agbim, who was out with an injury.

“There are things we are doing that are great ad we are making good teams look not so good,” UW head coach Sundance Wicks said. “Who we are is yet to be determined, but I know this if we double down on our competitiveness, connection and commitment to the team we are starting to become on the defensive side of the ball the identity is starting to form. We have to fight our way our right now. We wanted to make it a choppy game, but you have to play intelligent, and you have to be physical without fouling and take care of the basketball.”

The Cowboys held the Aggies to only a trio of threes on the night, as USU led the conference in threes per game. Utah State also held the Pokes to six threes, as UW averaged eight per game in conference play. Wyoming shot 45.3 from the field with USU shooting 40.7 percent. The Aggies held a 36-32 advantage on the glass.

Wyoming was led in scoring by Jordan Nesbitt with 11 points for his 12th game in double-figures this season. All his points came in the first half, as he also added a team-high seven rebounds. Dontaie Allen added 10 points for the Pokes and has scored in double-figures in eight games this season. Kobe Newton and A.J. Wills added nine points with every available player scoring six or more points on the night.

The Pokes hit their first two shots of the contest with buckets from Nesbitt and Belic, but the Aggies took a 6-4 lead with Nesbitt adding a slam to tie the game at 6-6 with just under 16 minutes left in the first half.

Utah State went on a 7-0 run to take a 13-6 lead, but a bucket from Touko Tainamo halted the with 12:39 left in the opening frame. Wyoming went on a 6-0 run with buckets from Wills, a Belic layup off a pass from Scottie Ebube and a layup from Nesbitt off a steal with under nine minutes left in the first frame. It ended with Ebube tying the contest at the free throw line.

The Aggies took a lead, but Ebube recorded a steal at the top of the key and turned it into a thunderous transition slam and Nesbitt added a layup for a 19-18 lead for the Cowboys at the seven-minute mark. Nesbitt got to double-figures for a 22-20 lead for the Pokes.

The Cowboys hit four-straight shots to close the half with a Kobe Newton three-pointer making it a 35-28 lead, but the Aggies hit a shot at the buzzer for a 35-30 game for the Cowboys at the half.

Utah State opened the second half on a 15-2 run to take a 45-37 lead with under 15 minutes left in the contest. Newton halted the run with a three pointer and a pair of free throws from Tainamo made it a 45-42 game and he added a layup to cap a 7-0 run with the Pokes trailing by one with 13 minutes left.

Utah State later went on a 7-0 run to make it a 54-46 game with nine minutes left. Wyoming went on a 7-0 run to pull within one point at 54-53 with seven minutes left. Newton sparked the run with a three-pointer and Ebube ended it a bucket in the paint.

But the Cowboys went scoreless for over four minutes with the Aggies building the lead to nine points at 64-55 with two minutes left. Wyoming went on a 5-0 run to make it a 64-60 game with 39 seconds left. Allen got to double-figures at the line with Wills adding a bucket.

The teams traded a pair of free throws and USU added two more for a 68-62 game with 31 seconds left. Wyoming added a triple from Wills and a layup from Henry for a three-point game, but USU took the game 71-47

The Aggies were led Ian Martinez with 19 points but was held to 0-of-5 from behind the arc.  Drake Allen added 11 points

The Cowboys are back in action in the Arena-Auditorium on Saturday hosting UNLV at 2 p.m.