BREAKING: Noah Reynolds 'shutdown' for remainder of season

LARAMIE -- The hits just keep on coming.

Noah Reynolds, Wyoming's leading scorer, will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a concussion Saturday night in a loss at San Jose State, Jeff Linder announced Tuesday.

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The Cowboys' third-year head coach said it was Reynolds' third major head injury in the last six months.

"You can replace a hip, you can replace a knee, you can even get an artificial heart, but in terms of a brain, I don't think we've figured out yet how to do a brain transplant," Linder said. "... Concussions are scary things, and it's something that you don't want to mess with. It's something that you have to look out for a player's long-term health, and that's what we're doing with Noah.

"It's not ideal, by any means. It's kind of par for the course of how the season's gone. But, you know, it's the best thing for Noah and his future."

Reynolds joins Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year Graham Ike, who announced Friday he will sit out the remainder of the season and seek a medical redshirt after suffering a right foot injury in early November.

Kenny Foster (back surgery), is still "7-to-10 days away" from returning to the lineup, according to Linder.

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Wyoming has used 15 different starting lineups in its 22 games so far this season.

After netting just under three points per game during his true freshman campaign, the Peoria, Ill., product became Wyoming's go-to scoring threat early in the season. He averaged nearly 15 points per night while starting 10-of-19 games for the Cowboys.

During a dominant five-game stretch in December, Reynolds averaged 23.2 per outing, including a career-high 30-point night in a 91-76 rout of visiting Texas A&M-Commerce.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound guard didn't receive a single offer out of Notre Dame High School despite averaging 5.3 points and 6.3 assists per game and earning All-State honors.

As a junior, Reynolds was named the Journal Star Large-School Boys Basketball Player of the Year after leading his team to a No. 1 ranking in Class 3A with a 30-1 record. He netted nearly 17 points a night and added nearly five rebounds to go along with 3.5 assists and two steals. He also shot 61.5% from the field.

Linder said Tuesday there are three types of players: Like-it, love-it and live-it guys. He said Reynolds is the latter.

"Noah is a guy that doesn't come from much," Linder said. "He's had to earn everything he's gotten. (He's) a guy that didn't have one single Division-I offer. Those are the type of guys I can coach. Those guys have a chip on their shoulder, they've got some fight in them and they love to play."

Who will pick up the slack in Reynolds' absence?

Linder said that will be a team effort, though Xavier DuSell and Brendan Wenzel were the first names mentioned.

"I think with those two guys, that will help," Linder added.

Wyoming (7-15, 2-8) will host UNLV (15-8, 4-7) Wednesday night inside the Arena-Auditorium. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on FS1.