January 25, 2023 — Hitting a season-tying-high 14 three-point shots wasn’t enough to give the Wyoming Cowboys a victory Tuesday night as they fell to UNLV 86-72 in Las Vegas. UNLV hit 11 of their three-point shots in the contest. The loss dropped Wyoming to 1-7 in the Mountain West and 6-14 overall. UNLV, who snapped a four-game losing streak, improved to 2-6 in the conference and 13-7 on the season.
“You have to have a level of urgency like we did for the Colorado State game,” UW head coach Jeff Linder said. “If you come out and play as hard as we did against Colorado State, you probably don’t put yourself in that position (of being behind early vs. UNLV). For whatever reason, this team struggles to play with an effort level that is required to win at this level. You’re talking about one of the better leagues in the country. We’re not talented enough where we can just show up and play. You have to play with a level of desperation that allows you to make the other team feel uncomfortable, and we just didn’t do that tonight.”
UNLV jumped out to a 6-0 lead early and still led by six points, 19-13, at the halfway point of the first half. Wyoming, which never led in the game, closed the gap to 21-20 at the eight-minute mark of the first half, but UNLV would increase the lead to 41-31 at the halftime break.
The second half started with a Hunter Maldonado layup, but the Runnin’ Rebels would push the lead to 15 points, 50-35, over the next four minutes.
The Pokes cut the deficit back to five points, 62-57, on two free throws from Hunter Thompson with just over 10 minutes to go. But Wyoming would get no closer in suffering their ninth loss in the last ten games.
Noah Reynolds again led Wyoming in scoring with 23 points. Xavier DuSell added 18 points, and Hunter Maldonado had 11 points.
Wyoming is idle the rest of this week and will host Fresno State next Tuesday.
Cowgirls Travel to Utah State
The Wyoming Cowgirls head back out on the road Thursday night, traveling to Utah State. The Cowgirls (5-3 in the MW and 12-7 overall) are looking to stop a two-game losing streak after winning five straight games. Utah State (1-7 in the MW and 4-15 on the year) has lost 10 of their last 11 games.
The Cowgirls at Utah State game will be broadcast on WyoRadio’s 1360/103.5 KRKK and 1360KRKK.com beginning at 5:30 p.m. with the tip-off at 6 p.m.
