Cowboys cruise to first game win Monday night

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Wyoming vs. Colorado Christian November 8, 2022 (University of Wyoming photo)

November 8, 2022 — The Wyoming Cowboys put on a show with contributions from veterans and newcomers in a 102-69 season-opening win over Colorado Christian on Monday in Laramie. Six UW players scored in double figures for the contest, as the 102 points were the most in an opening game since scoring 113 against Denver in 1987.

“Give credit to CCU (Colorado Christian) and Coach (Liam) Simmons,” UW Head Coach Jeff Linder said. “They do a good job. It was good to play a team like them who runs some good action, and they run with a good pace, and they have a plan. It made our guys have to play hard, and I knew that was going to be the case coming in.”

The Pokes were led by forward Jeremiah Oden, as he tied a career-best with 17 points in only 18 minutes. Guard Max Agbonkpolo added 16 points off the bench. Other Pokes scoring in double figures were Hunter Thompson (15), Hunter Maldonado (13), Norah Reynolds (12), and Jake Kyman (10).



The Pokes shot 51 percent from the field and held the Cougars to 39 percent.

“I thought our guys did a really good job of focusing one possession at a time, understanding that we wanted to put some more pressure on the opponent than what we would normally do,” Linder said. “I thought our pressure really caused them problems.” 

“I think it was a really good start,” Linder said. “Without Graham (Ike) right now, we need to get Maldo (Hunter Maldonado) in some more dribble-down situations. I think our skill level and our ability to use our depth to get out and play a little bit faster and play a little bit freer, in the long run, will make us harder to guard.”

Wyoming led 50-34 at the end of the first half after leading only 20-14 halfway through the period. They would increase that lead to 77-51 by the mid-point of the second half.

The Cowboys will now host Southland Conference member Nicholls on Thursday at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WyoRadio’s 99.7 JACK-FM and 99KSIT.com at 7:30 p.m.