3 Quick takes: What you see is what you get

LARAMIE -- After one half of basketball these numbers told the tale:

Offensive rebounds: 1
Field-goal percentage: 25
Three-point percentage: 13.3
Points in the paint: 6

As a team, Wyoming shot the ball 24 times in the first 20 minutes. Fifteen of those came from beyond the arc.

Guess how many of those were made? Two.

Yes, two.

Allen Edwards' guys are known for living and dying with the three, but when they are off, the losses are just compounded. Wyoming trailed just 25-16 at the half. If it weren't for eight uncharacteristic first-half turnovers from Utah State -- and just 38 percent shooting -- this one would've been a laugher much earlier.

The cat is out of the bag -- The Cowboys have no one capable of playing in the paint, let alone owning it.

Hunter Thompson won't be that guy. Edwards calls him a "unicorn" and loves his outside shot too much. Tyler Morman is all but out for the season with various injuries, and TJ Taylor's inconsistencies have made him a liability down low.

In other words, the inside woes aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Wyoming, at times, does a decent job masking its deficiencies inside. That's on nights when Hunter Maldonado is scoring in the 20's, Jake Hendricks is hitting threes and Kenny Foster is popping one or two from deep.

Those three combined for just 16 points. Hendricks scored zero of them. Maldonado netted 14.

Any coach with half a brain is going to feed their big man when the Cowboys come rolling into town. And they should. There's zero answer. Utah State didn't even take advantage the way it could've.

Instead, the Aggies simply got hot from outside and cruised to an easy victory, just their eighth all time in 39 tries in Laramie.

Avert your eyes

In the last 29 Mountain West Conference games, dating back to a home meeting with Boise State on Jan. 2, 2019, Wyoming has won just four of those.

All four -- of course -- came last season. The Cowboys swept lowly San Jose State, topped Border War rival Colorado State in Laramie, 74-66, and outlasted New Mexico at the Arena-Auditorium in the regular-season finale.

The Lobos got their revenge four days later at the MWC Tournament in Las Vegas. You remember? The Cowboys blew a double-digit halftime lead and were on a plane back home hours later.

After Tuesday night's 68-45 loss to Utah State, Wyoming is now 0-10 in league play and firmly entrenched in the cellar of the MWC.

The Cowboys have zero gimmes left on the schedule. SJSU is no longer the punch line. That belongs to this group. Wyoming takes on the Spartans in San Jose Saturday.

CSU is much improved. And this version of the Pokes has little shot to touch New Mexico in The Pit.

Expect this lopsided record to only get worse.

Has Marble not proven himself yet?

I opined in this spot last week that Kwane Marble deserves to be in the starting five.

That was only solidified against the Aggies.

Marble gave the Pokes an early boost and was easily the most impactful player on the floor for the home team. The freshman guard from Denver finished tied with a team-high 14 points, his third straight outing in double figures.

Hi most impressive stat of the night might have been one. That's the amount of technical fouls Marble garnered.

Is it good to pick up techs? No.

But for this team, I'm all for it at this point. In a season where emotion and lack of care have been kicked around, it was a breath of fresh air to see the youngster stand his ground and not back down from 220-pound Alphonso Anderson.

Marble certainly didn't look like a freshman.

It's time for a full-on youth movement. Hendricks and AJ Banks are the lone seniors on this squad. Tuesday, they combined for three points. That was a late Banks' three.

Why not see if Greg Milton and Brandon Porter are part of the future plans? Marble certainly should be. So could TJ Taylor.

This season is all but over. Just eight games remain.

They don't have to be meaningless ones.