AJ Wills Nearly Sparks Wyoming Upset Over Preseason Favorites

LARAMIE -- "Why hasn't AJ been in the game?"

Sundance Wicks asked the closest assistant within ear shot that very question Tuesday night with the Cowboys trailing visiting Boise State by 11. He was referring to AJ Wills, a sophomore guard who provided a spark in Wyoming's 66-63 upset of Nevada just four days prior.

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The Virginia product dished out four assists in that one. He also pulled down two boards and took a violent charge that drew an audible reaction from the more than 4,200 in attendance inside the Arena-Auditorium.

Wills lit the spark.

"Sometimes that's oversight on my part," Wicks admitted. "I'm looking out there, looking for flow. AJ is a guy who changes our pace, so we have to get him in sooner."

Wyoming's first-year head coach called this latest loss to the Broncos "the girl that got away."

Maybe that doesn't happen if Wills is in the game earlier?

He entered with 5:47 remaining in the first half. The Cowboys, who were ice cold from the field, connecting on just two of their first 22 shots, suddenly closed the gap with a 10-0 run. Wills was on the floor for eight of those points. In fact, he drilled a triple to cut the deficit to just three.

He splashed another from deep with 10:25 to go in regulation. That handed Wyoming its first, and what would turn out to be its last, lead of the night.

The Holy Cross transfer capped his career outing with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting against the preseason Mountain West favorites. Wills hit a team-best five threes. He added an assist and a steal, too, in just 14 minutes on the floor.

"Oh, 100%," fellow guard Dontaie Allen said postgame when asked if he's seen drastic development in Wills through his first 14 games in Laramie. "He's always been that AJ, but from the start of the season through now, you can see the growth in everything he's done. I definitely see it."

So does Wills.

"It's mostly due to these guys, for real," he added. "Coach doesn't teach us to come out there and just shoot shots, it's more of what you do on the court. It's really these guys who give me that type of confidence and boost. Like I said, just keep giving great compliments in the huddles and taking you up, stuff like that. So, I really just feed off my teammates."

They feed off of him, too. Especially leading scorer Obi Agbim, according to Wicks. That's because Wills can handle the ball at the point, leaving the senior to find open spaces instead of always creating a shot.

Agbim went down late in regulation against Boise State with what Wicks calls a "light" ankle sprain. After the final buzzer sounded, his teammates Scottie Ebube and Jordan Nesbitt, helped him to the handshake line as he put little to no weight on his right foot.

Wills might have to slide into the role this Saturday in Colorado Springs when the Cowboys face Front Range rival Air Force. Agbim, Wicks said, is "day to day."

"AJ has just shown that," Wicks said when asked if he's ready for this assignment. "He's grown every single day in practice and in competition."

Either way, expect Wills to get in the lineup a tad quicker inside Clune Arena.

"We had a bad start when we came out," Wills said postgame. "Not to just boost my head, but like, you sometimes need that one person to bring that type of energy so the team can all lock in and know what's going on. So, I think that's a big part in basketball, but it shouldn't get to that. It should be like that to start a game."