November 11, 2021 — The Wyoming Cowboy defense shined in an 85-47 season-opening win over Detroit Mercy Wednesday night in Laramie. Wyoming held the Titans to 31 percent from the field for the lowest total in the Jeff Linder era of Cowboy basketball. Wyoming shot 55 percent from the field in the contest. Wyoming also dominated points in the paint 44-16.
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“I thought our guys really locked into the scouting report, and Coach (Ken) DeWeese did a really good job with the scout, particularly not knowing exactly what they (Detroit Mercy) were going to do,” UW head coach Jeff Linder said. “We had no film or any intel on their two scrimmages that they had against other Division I opponents. We had to base everything off what they did last year.”
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Wyoming was led by guard Hunter Maldonado with 19 points. He also added six rebounds and nine assists. Forward Graham Ike added 22 points to lead all scorers. Senior Drake Jefferies lead Wyoming in rebounding with seven. For the game, the Pokes outrebounded Detroit Mercy 37-32.
UW held the nation’s second-leading scorer last season Antoine Davis to 16 points thanks to solid defense by sophomore guard XavierDuSell. Madut Akec led the Titans with 13 rebounds and 14 points for the double-double.
The Cowboys led 40-21 at the half building the lead to 65-35 halfway through the second half. Wyoming would cruise from there to take the 85-47 victory.
The Cowboys return to action on Sunday hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 2 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium. The game will be broadcast on WyoRadio’s 99.7 JACK-FM and 99KSIT.com beginning at 1:30 p.m.
