Wyoming Cowboys fall 66-61 to San Jose State at Mountain West Tournament

UW finishes 12-20 in Sundance Wicks' first season as head coach

LAS VEGAS – Sundance Wicks' first season as Wyoming's head coach ended with the gritty effort he was looking.

Unfortunately for the Pokes, the outside shooting was not pretty.

Ninth-seeded UW finished 2-for-19 (10.5%) on 3-pointers and shot 42.4% from the field during a 66-61 loss to No. 8 San Jose State in the opening round of the Mountain West Tournament on Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Cowboys (12-20) allowed the Spartans (15-18) to make eight 3s and gave up 15 points off 14 turnovers.

Jordan Nesbitt scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half to lead a valiant comeback attempt by the Pokes, who trailed by as many as 22 points.

Nesbitt made a steal and layup to get UW within 46-39. The Pokes were 0-for-11 from behind the arc until the 6-foot-6 senior from St. Louis removed the lid with a made 3 to make the score 48-44 with 9:03 remaining.

Cole Henry, who finished with 11 points, made two shots in the paint to make get UW without four points and a 3 by Obi Agbim made it a one-possession game (64-61) with 21.9 seconds left.

Agbim, who finished with 12 points, missed a potential game-tying 3 after a SJSU turnover and fouled out with 3.4 seconds left.

UW dug an early 12-0 hole that included three turnovers that led to eight points for the Spartans.

Agbim buried a mid-range jumper to get the Pokes on the scoreboard. Dontaie Allen completed a three-point play to cut the deficit to 12-5.

SJSU pushed its lead to 32-10 after Donavan Yap and Sadaidriene Hall made back-to-back 3s as part of an 18-3 run.

UW trailed 38-22 at the intermission after going 0-for-8 on 3-point attempts while allowing Hall to score 15 points with three 3s

The Pokes lost both regular season meetings, 67-58 in San Jose on Jan. 25 and 83-73 in Laramie on Feb. 22. UW still leads the all-time series 22-6.