February 4, 2022 — In a matchup of the top two teams in the Mountain West, the Wyoming Cowboys avenged their only conference loss of the season and snapped Boise State’s 14-game winning streak with a 72-65 home win. The win upped the Pokes Mountain West conference record to 7-1 (18-3 overall), while Boise State is now 8-1 in league play (17-5 overall). The win avenged the Cowboys’ 65-62 loss at Boise State on January 25.
Wyoming was led by Graham Ike’s 33 points, 22 of those points in the second half. The sophomore forward also added 10 rebounds. Hunter Maldonado chipped in with 16 points and seven assists. Jeremiah Oden also scored in double figures for UW with 13 points.
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“We knew at halftime that it was like a 0-0 game (game tied 28-28), and we were playing one of the hottest if not the hottest teams with a lot of toughness and a lot of grit,” UW Head Coach Jeff Linder said. “We knew we had to make more winning plays, and we had to be the tougher team in the second half. For us to come out and play a team in Boise, that is talked about as an elite defensive team and an elite rebounding team, and for us to hold them to 39 percent shooting and out-rebound them shows our collective grit and toughness as a team.”
Wyoming shot 49 percent from the field for the night and held Boise State to 39 percent. It marked the eighth game an opponent shot 40 percent or lower from the field.
In the second half, Wyoming held a slim 54-53 lead with 5:25 to play, when the Broncos would score a layup to give them a 55-54 lead, their last lead of the game.
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Maldonado would score on a layup and a free throw with 4:23 in the contest to give the lead back to Wyoming 57-55.
With the game remaining close, Wyoming would build their lead to 66-61 on an Ike basket at the 1:15 mark. The remainder of the Cowboy points would come from the free-throw line, with UW making 6 of 8 from the charity stripe.
Wyoming will now travel to Fresno State (5-3 in the MW, 15-6 overall) for a Sunday contest. The game time will be 5 p.m with the broadcast time at 4:30 p.m. on WyoRadio’s 99.7 JACK-FM and 99KSIT.com.
