Wyoming Falls to BYU in Salt Lake City, 68-49

Agbim scores 21 points for Cowboys

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Dec. 14, 2024) – The Wyoming Cowboys could not slow down the shooting of BYU in a 68-49loss on Saturday evening inside the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The Cougars shot 52 percent from the field in the contest and held Wyoming to 42 percent from the field. Wyoming did hold the Cougars to nearly 20 points below their season average in scoring.

“They are a solid team that is physical in the half court,” UW head coach Sundance Wicks said. “I thought the pace favored us, but I think for the first time this season I saw our guys tried and we have had a long stretch on the road. It was designed to test our guys for conference play.”

A matchup of two of the top rebounding teams in the nation saw BYU hold a 30-25 advantage for the night. The Cowboys, who have been shot well from behind the arc in the last two contest were held to 25 percent on six makes. BYU shot 45 percent from behind the arc with nine makes.

The Cowboys were led by Obi Agbim with 21 points. He has scored in double-figures in every game this season. He was 8-of-12 from the field and 3-of-6 from behind the arc. Jordan Nesbitt added seven points in the contest. Abou Magassa led the Cowboys with a career-high nine rebounds on the night. Matija Belic made his debut for the Pokes adding four points.

The Cougars hit their first five shots of the game and forced three turnovers to take a 11-0 lead in the first tw0-plus minutes of the contest. Agbim and Nesbitt added buckets for an 11-4 contest holding the Cougars scoreless for over two minutes.

BYU continued the hot shooting, but Agbim was just as hot for a 20-11 contest with 12:32 remaining in the first half. Both teams were shooting over 60 percent in the first eight minutes, but five turnovers by the Brown and Gold proved to be the difference.

The Pokes would trail by 14 points at 27-13 halfway through the half with BYU turning UW turnovers into 12 points during the stretch. Wyoming held the Cougars scoreless for over three minutes but could only make it a 11-point contest at 32-21. An Agbim three made it a 34-25 game at the half, as he got to double figures.

BYU opened the second half on a 5-0 run to build a 39-25 advantage. Wyoming went on a 4-0 run, but a pair of threes by BYU made it a 45-32 game. BYU added three-straight baskets and built a 56-37 lead with under 10 minutes left in the game.

Wyoming would hold the BYU without a field goal for five minutes but couldn’t cut into the as the Cougars took the contest 68-49.

The Cougars were led by three players in double-figures with Trevin Knell adding 15 points going 6-of-7 from the field.

The Cowboys return home for the first time in nearly a month hosting Bellarmine on Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. inside the Arena-Auditorium.