Cowboys Look to Come Together in Time For ‘Third Season’

LAS VEGAS, Nev., -- "What's your favorite kind of donut?"

That was Sundance Wicks' opening question to media members in attendance at his Friday morning press conference inside the bowels of the Arena-Auditorium.

That followed a number of brief discussions about pizza, a Q&A with boosters the night prior, his metabolism of a "12-year-old," former boss Jeff Linder and proudly showing off the team-issued jacket he received from the school's rodeo team.

"They have nice swag," he joked. "Rodeo is real. Those are real Cowboys and Cowgirls."

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What does all of that above insinuate?

The head man, as always, appears to be relaxed. How about his team, which is coming off a brutal stretch of nine losses in its last 10 outings?

Cole Henry didn't shy away from it. Something has been a miss of late.

The senior forward also knows this bipolar season can be fixed with one four-game run in the upcoming Mountain West Tournament. He also understands why your belief level might not be very high.

"We've had areas of the season, weeks of the season, where we've been really together. We played really well," he added. "Then there's been games and weeks where we've been separated. The last few games we've been a little bit separate as far as teamwork, leadership and, you know, camaraderie."

It shows.

The current four-game skid has featured a plethora of issues.

Optional defense in a lopsided road loss at Nevada, yet another close call against the schoolyard tormentors of the conference, San Diego State, and setbacks against Fresno State and Wednesday night's opponent, San Jose State, that left the head coach questioning his patchwork roster's toughness and desire.

The latter two doubts don't sit well with Henry.

Why will this meeting with the Spartans be any different from the last two?

Latrell Davis went off for 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting back in late January. The sophomore guard from Leeds, England, coming off the bench, no less, hit three triples and snagged five rebounds.

His fellow countryman, Josh Uduje, fell one point shy of tying a career high with 29 points in the 82-73 victory in Laramie. He finished 11-of-16 from the field and splashed all three of his attempts from deep. The senior also capped the afternoon with a trio of steals.

The Brits bullied the 'Boys, especially one-on-one. Wicks said as much in his postgame press conference.

Henry said the focus this week is not to let that happen again.

"We're going to have some pretty physical and tough practices, I'm sure," he said. "I think we need it. You know, it's our last guaranteed full week of practice. It's the last guaranteed week of my (basketball playing) life. So, I've got no problem getting after it, you know, really banging bodies."

Wyoming will arrive in Sin City early in the week and head over to the Impact Basketball Academy, a local gym that hosts pre-draft NBA prospects. Wicks was once a coach there. This trip down memory lane will serve as that chance to bond once again, Henry said, before the "third season" begins.

There Wicks will continue his attempt to solve this Spartans' backcourt that has torched the Pokes in the paint this winter. He will need to admittedly get creative. Having 6-foot-10, 275-pound Scottie Ebube back in the mix should only help.

How do you beat a team three times in the same season?

He faced that scenario this week against The Citadel. Wicks, who coached Silas at both Colorado and Northern Illinois, said there's not a science to it.

"Don't overthink it, don't over-coach it, in a lot of ways," Wicks said. "Teams are going to beat teams three times. They're going to lose to teams three times. You're going to go 2-1, you're going to go 1-2 ... It just depends on if that team is right, and you played your best against them. I don't think we played our best against San Jose."

VMI was again the better team Friday in the opening round of the SoCon Championships, knocking off the Bulldogs, 73-62.

Can the Cowboys Wednesday find a way to break through so that doesn't happen to them?

Tipoff is slated for 12 p.m. Mountain Time and the game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.

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