November 21, 2022 — The Cowboys could not overcome cold shooting in the opening 20 minutes in a 61-56 loss to Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite Drake on Sunday afternoon in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Trailing 34-18 at the end of the first half, the Cowboys (3-2) opened the second half on a 20-6 run to pull within two points, 40-38, with 12:12 remaining in the final half.
Drake (4-0) would stretch the lead to six, 44-38, over the next couple of minutes and still hold a six-point margin, 48-42, with just short of five minutes on the clock. Wyoming would the lead to three, 59-56, on a three-point shot by Xavier DuSell with 19-seconds remaining but could not get closer.
“That is a good team who will be right in the thick of the NCAA Tournament and will probably win a very good league,” UW head coach Jeff Linder said. “That is a team that is together, and we need to understand who we are, and we found that in the second half.”
Wyoming was led for the second straight game by guard Hunter Maldonado with 20 points, going 6-of-9 from the field, along with five rebounds. It was Maldonado’s 133rd game in a Wyoming uniform, tying him with Alan Herndon for the all-time lead at Wyoming. DuSell added 13 points in his first start of the season.
The Cowboys will play for third place today against Boston College (3-2). The Eagle lost 70-54 to Tarleton (3-1) on Sunday. The game will be broadcast on WyoRadio’s 99.7 JACK-FM and 99KSIT.com, with tipoff scheduled for 3:45 p.m.
Cowgirls will play Tuesday
Coming off a Friday win over Denver, the Wyoming Cowgirls (1-2) will host Regis on Tuesday in the annual Education Day Game. The game will be broadcast on WyoRadio’s 1360/103.5 KRKK and 1360KRKK.com. Tipoff will be 11:30 a.m.
