Tuck’s Take: Agbim-Less Pokes Let Another One Slip Away

LARAMIE -- If last week's loss to visiting Boise State was the "girl that got away," Tuesday night's outing can only be described as being left all alone at the altar.

In this tale of two halves, the Lobos saved their best for last in a 61-53 escape job inside Laramie's Arena-Auditorium.

Just how quickly did this game flip?

Wyoming limited New Mexico, the highest-scoring team in the Mountain West (87 points per game), to just 5-of-27 from the field over the first 20 minutes. That equated to just 18 points, six of which came at the free-throw line.

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That nightmare start included six turnovers and zero second-chance points. Donovan Dent, the conference's leading scorer at 19.1 points per game, did net a team-high nine. Filip Borovicanin added seven.

The rest of the Lobos, two. That included nada from big man Nelly Jr Joseph.

"I thought we had a brilliant defensive effort in the first half," Wyoming head coach Sundance Wicks said postgame. "We were inspired."

Wyoming, again playing without its own leading scorer Obi Agbim, cruised to a 14-point lead at the break, every point slowly coming in the half-court offense. Kobe Newton drained three triples and Abou Magassa and Dontaie Allen chipped in with six.

Passing was on point. Rebounding was, too. The Cowboys led that all-important category, 24-19. Jordan Nesbitt pulled down a team-high five of those. The senior transfer from Hampton also led the way with three assists.

The rout was on.

Or so it appeared.

New Mexico immediately answered with a 12-0 run out of the break. Six different scorers got in on the action. The Cowboys, aided by an 8-0 run of their own, briefly stopped the bleeding, but poor shot selection coupled with a heavy dose of Dent was too much to overcome.

The 6-foot-2 junior from Riverside, Calif., connected on 4-of-7 from the field and drained all five of his free throws while netting 13 in the second half. He finished the game with 22, nearly three more than his season average.

Dent also dished out six assists and finished with two steals. One happened near midcourt when he stripped Newton. Before the ball landed out of bounds, the Lobo guard launched it back into play and off of Wyoming's senior to regain possession.

With 3:42 to go, Dent cruised through the lane and laid it up and in to give New Mexico a 49-48 lead.

Wicks said he warned his team at halftime a run was coming. That's what good teams do. What followed, he said, was "shellshock."

"I can't burn enough timeouts to make you realize at some point you got to figure it out on the floor," he added. "You have to solve the problem on the floor, and you got to bow your back and continue to get the stops that count."

They didn't.

The Lobos, who moved to 13-3 overall and 4-0 in League play, never trailed again.

Did The Cowboys miss Agbim in this one? You bet.

The senior guard has brought a calming presence to the floor all year. He's the floor general. Without him you can win at Air Force, not against New Mexico. He was a game-time decision. That right ankle must really be tender to miss this one.

No one took the reins of this offense in the second frame.

Wild, hurried shots became a theme. Newton failed to get on the scoreboard, missing all three of his attempts. AJ Wills, Scottie Ebube and Touko Tainamo finished with a goose egg in crunch time, too. Wicks credited some of that to guys playing out of position with his star on the shelf and Wills having an off-night. Nesbitt ran the point. That hasn't happened since the summer, he said.

Wicks isn't interested in a one-man show, but no one took on the lead role.

Agbim would have.

"Oh, it's like Domino's Pizza," Wicks laughed. "You remember that thing? Something for nothing when you call Domino's. Yeah, like, that's a hell of a deal. That's Obi. He gives you something when nothing's going on out there.

"... Obi is  my Domino's Pizza. Like, I need an emergency pizza and I need it now."

The Cowboys made just six shots from the floor in the second half. They missed all eight of their attempts from deep. New Mexico outscored the home team, 43-21, out of the locker room.

Wyoming falls to 9-7 overall and 2-3 in conference play. A rematch with Boise State awaits next Tuesday inside ExtraMile Arena. A home date with Border War rival Colorado State comes next before a trip to UNLV.

In other words, this mishmash roster can't afford to let any winnable games slip away.

"We were close. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades," Wicks said. "I'm not a very good horseshoe player and I've never had a hand grenade, but I know that close only counts in those two sports. You get points for being close in horseshoes. And, I don't know, if you get a hand grenade pretty damn close, the thing's going to sting a little bit.

"This game stung a little bit because of how close we were."

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players