Pokes, Aztecs meet in battle of Mountain West heavyweights
LARAMIE -- The Cowboys continue their homestand on Monday hosting San Diego State in the Arena-Auditorium in a 7 p.m. start on CBS Sports Network.
The contest, originally slated for Jan.12, was rescheduled for Monday evening. Wyoming has won 14-straight home games dating back to last season for the longest streak in the MW era of Cowboy basketball.
Fans may order tickets online at GoWyo.com/tickets, by emailing tickets@uwyo.edu or by calling (307) 766-7220.
Fans can, listen to the contest, as well as follow stats on GoWyo.com. The contest will be broadcast live on radio over the 26 affiliate stations of the Cowboy Sports Network, as Reece Monaco will have the call with Kevin McKinney on color.
About The Teams
The Pokes are 23-5 overall and 12-3 in conference after defeating Nevada 74-61 on Saturday in the Arena-Auditorium.
The Pokes are currently No 39 in the recent NCAA Net Rankings and sit in second place in the conference, a game behind Boise State in the loss column. The Pokes held Nevada to just 37 percent from the field in the contest on Saturday, marking back-to-back games holding opponents to under 40 percent. The opposition is shooting 41 percent from the field for the season for fourth in MW and No. 41 in the nation.
“Our guys are really connected, and we’ve been stressing to them that everyone needs to strive to do everything a little bit better,” UW head coach Jeff Linder said. "There are certain things our guys know they have to do to finish things off right this year.
"We hold them accountable, as coaches, and our players know to win a championship the defensive end is where it starts. To hold a team (Nevada) that is one of the best offensive teams in the country to only 37 percent shooting was big for us tonight.”
Wyoming is second in the league scoring 74.9 points per game and is shooting 47 percent from the field for third in the conference.
The Aztecs come into Monday’s game with a 18-7 overall record and a 10-4 mark in conference play. They sit at No. 30 in the Net Rankings.
San Diego State has won six of their last seven contests. the Aztecs are once again one of the nation’s top defenses, allowing only 56.9 points per game on the season, a number that leads the conference and ranks second in the nation.
Opponents are shooting 38 percent from the field for fourth in the nation. The Aztecs are scoring 65.6 points per game eighth in the conference.
About The Players
Wyoming is led by scoring this season by Graham Ike at 20.7 per game to rank second in the league and No. 12 in the nation. He also leads the team in rebounds at 9.8 per game for second in the MW and No. 18 in the nation. He is one of three players in the nation to average over 20 points per game and nine or more rebounds.
Hunter Maldonado adds 19.1 points per game to rank fourth in the MW. He ranks second in the conference and ranks sixth in the nation with 6.1 assists per game. Drake Jeffries adds 10.6 points per night and ranks No. 14 in the nation shooting 42 percent from behind the arc.
Xavier DuSell, who was inserted into the starting lineup against Nevada for the first time since Jan. 15, is netting 8.2 points per game. Forward Jeremiah Oden adds nearly eight per contest and Brendan Wenzel sits at 5.2.
San Diego State is led by Matt Bradley at 16.7 points per game. He also adds five rebounds per game and is second on the team with 68 assists. He is shooting 42 percent from behind the arc this season.
Trey Pulliam adds 8.0 points per game and has a team high 81 assists. Keshad Johnson shoots 56 percent from the field and adds 7.7 points per game. Nathan Mensah leads the team with 7.1 rebounds per game.
About The Series
San Diego State leads the all-time series 47-41 with the first meeting coming in 1979. SDSU has won seven-straight against the Pokes. The Cowboys are 27-11 all-time against the Aztecs in Laramie.
Scoreboard Watching
That didn't work out too well for the Pokes Saturday as Boise State and Colorado State rolled to big road wins in Las Vegas and Logan, respectively. The Broncos, who are a game ahead of Wyoming in the standings, host Nevada Tuesday night inside ExtraMile Arena.
The Rams have just one contest remaining in the regular season. That's a rather large get together with Boise State next Saturday at Moby Arena in Fort Collins.
Mountain West Standings
* Boise State: 23-6, 14-2
* Wyoming: 23-5, 12-3
* Colorado State: 23-4, 13-4
* San Diego State: 18-7, 10-4
* UNLV: 17-12, 9-7
* Fresno State: 17-10, 7-7
* Utah State: 16-14, 7-10
* Nevada: 12-15, 6-10
* New Mexico: 12-17, 4-11
* Air Force: 10-17, 3-13
* San Jose State: 8-20, 1-15
Up Next
Wyoming will hit the road on Wednesday heading to UNLV for the only meeting between the teams this season in conference play. The contest is set for a 8:30 p.m. MT start on FS1.
* University of Wyoming Athletics media relations release contributed to this report
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