Cowboy Offense Goes Cold in 62-58 Road Loss at Fresno State

FRESNO, Calif., – The Wyoming Cowboys could not overcome cold shooting, closing the regular season with a 62-58 road loss at Fresno State on Tuesday night in the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif.

Wyoming knocked down 12 threes in the contest, but were outscored at the free throw line by 14.

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“When you play a zone, you are going to half to hit shots, but the story is rebounding. Fresno State looked like we did against San Diego State. They had three guys outrebound our entire team. It's a game of toughness,” UW head coach Sundance Wicks said.

Both teams shot under 40 percent in the contest with Wyoming shooting only 32.8 percent. Wyoming did hit 12 threes in the game but was held to only 30 percent. Fresno State shot 35.3 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from the line with 20 makes Fresno State dominated the glass at 45-33 and held the Pokes to only 14 points in the paint.

The Pokes were led in scoring by Obi Agbim scoring 17 points and five threes, as he scored all his points in the second half. Agbim has scored in double-figures in all but one game this season. Kobe Newton added 15 points for his tenth game in double figures this season. He knocked down five threes on the night. Dontaie Allen recorded 14 points for his 12th game in double-figures this season. He has scored 10 or more points in the first half in back-to-back games. Touko Tainamo added eight rebounds in the contest to lead the team. It tied a season-high

After the Bulldogs opened the scoring with a free throw, Newton knocked down a corner three, but Fresno State went on a 10-0 run to take a 11-3 lead five minutes into the game. The Cowboys responded with three-straight baskets to make it a 13-10 game, but a triple pushed the lead back to six with under 13-minute left in the frame.

Allen would get to double-figures and give the Pokes a 17-16 lead with under 10-minute left in the first half. The Pokes held Fresno State scoreless for over five minutes but could not push the lead to more than one, as the Bulldogs took back the lead at 18-16 at the 6:34 mark.

Wyoming went scoreless for over four minutes with the bulldogs building a 27-19 lead. Newton knocked down a triple and after Jordan Nesbitt took a charge, Henry added a basket for a 27-24 game with 52 seconds left in the first half and that was the score at the break.

The Cowboys would make it a one-point game in the early goings of the second half, but the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run for a 37-28 lead with Wyoming missing seven-straight field goal attempts. Agbim ended the run with his first points of the game. He added another one for a 37-34 game with under 14 minutes left.

Wyoming held the Bulldogs scoreless for over four minutes and used a 10-0 run for a 38-37 lead with a slam by Scottie Ebube capping the run with 11:45 left in the game. But the Pokes would go scoreless for another long stretch with Fresno State building a lead back to five points with under 10 minutes left.

Agbim went on an 8-2 run himself against Fresno State and gave Wyoming a 46-45 lead with just over seven minutes left. The two teams would then trade three pointers and the contest would be tied at 50-50 with under five minutes left.

Agbim would hit his fifth three of the game for a 53-50 lead, but the Bulldogs would take back the lead at the free throw line at 54-53 with under two and a half minutes left and pushed the lead to three points a minute later and five points with 49 seconds left.

Wyoming would battle back and make it a four-point game on the three from Newton for a 60-56 game with 13 seconds left. But the Bulldogs took the contest at the line 62-58.

The Bulldogs were led by Elijah Price with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Alex Crawford also added a double-double with 15 point and 11 rebounds. Four players scored in double-figures.

Wyoming will head to the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Basketball Championship next week. The Cowboys will open action in the First Round on Wednesday at Noon MT.

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