Tuck’s Take: Cowpokes Grind Out 81-66 Win over Tigers

LARAMIE -- Can gritty also be pretty?

At times, yes.

Sundance Wicks said to expect some "rock fights" throughout the non-conference slate as he tinkers with different starting lineups and in-game matchups. Wyoming's first-year head coach concocted the right recipe early in Sunday afternoon's 81-66 victory over visiting Tennessee State, especially with backs to the basket.

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Tennessee State's Ronald Jessamy, who netted a team-high 23 in the season opener and added 10 more in last Friday night's overtime loss at Colorado State, scored just two first-half points on 1-of-4 shooting. Fellow forward Carlous Williams found the net just twice over the first 20 minute -- from the free-throw line. He finished with 21 against Fisk. He tacked on nine more in that 87-79 setback in Fort Collins.

The Tiger's starting five connected on just 3-of-16 shots in the first half. Those guys landed a grand total of 16 points.

The reserves didn't fare much better, adding five baskets (8-for-27 overall) over that same time frame. The visitors didn't sink a single triple, either, failing on seven attempts from deep. The first one came off the right hand of Justus Jackson with 15:49 to go in regulation. The Tigers were just 2-of-16 overall from beyond the arc.

That, folks, is winning basketball, burying the opposition early. The complimentary play on the offensive end certainly didn't hurt, either.

The game plan dictated it.

"It was to make them die at altitude," guard Kobe Newton said. "We know that they had just played a pretty tough game at Fort Collins. They went into overtime, so we knew their legs were going to be feeling it a little bit. So that was one of our main focuses, was just, make them feel that. Make them feel that throughout the whole game. Make them feel that throughout 40 minutes. I feel like they did. I feel like they were tired. I feel like that's why they missed some shots. A lot of their shots were short.

"... We executed our game plan to perfection and got the win."

Obi Agbim again led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting. The Fort Lewis transfer also drilled all four of his three-point attempts. Jordan Nesbitt, another senior guard, added 15 points and connected on 50% of his shots from the floor. The Hampton transfer helped spark a 12-4 run to end this one, scoring on back-to-back drives to the rim, late in regulation.

Newton chipped in with 11 points and Touko Tainamo finished with nine.

"I think that's the beauty of this team," Agbim said. "You know, everybody has a certain spark they can give. And, you know, when they give that spark, we feed off of it."

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TSU didn't simply fold in this one, though.

Guard Brandon Weston capped his night with 18 points, 10 of which came in the second half, and Aaron Nkrumah finished with 13 off the bench. TSU, thanks to a 15-3 run, cut the Cowboys' lead to just six with 11:16 to go.

"In hindsight, it was good for us," Newton added. "It was good for us to experience that and be able to stay together, stay collected."

Jessamy didn't play in the second half for unknown reasons. TSU was also playing without sophomore guard Knute Wood, who hit three triples against CSU.

A big reason for the comeback can be found in the rebounding category. The visitors won that, 40-38. That led to a 15-5 advantage in second-chance points. It also led to 34 points in the paint.

"We did a good job on first-shot defense but we could not finish the possession with the rebound, which drives me nuts," Wicks said postgame. "First-shot defense is massive. I mean, you hold a team to 37%, if they don't get their second-chance points, they might be under 30. You know, those are the margins where I'm just nitpicking a little bit here, but, you know, we want to pride ourselves in being able to win the points in the paint.

"... Ball-screen defense, good. First-shot defense, good. Rebounding, bad. Unnecessary fouls, bad. Like, has to be better."

The Cowboys did -- by just two.

Wyoming's big men, collectively, struggled during this matinee performance, especially over the final 20 minutes. Cole Henry finished with four points and three rebounds in just 10-plus minutes. Tainamo added two points and the same number of boards in the same amount of playing time. Scottie Ebube picked up his fifth foul with 6:49 to go. Oleg Kojenets was one of two Wyoming players not to land on the score sheet.

Those four turned the ball over six times and pulled down 13 of the team's 38 boards.

When those guys, as Wicks put it, weren't going all in on the glass "two hands, two feet, two cheeks," Nesbitt was. He grabbed seven second-half rebounds.

The foursome also netted only 19 points and were whistled 11 times. Wicks wanted a fast and furious outing at elevation. This one was anything but thanks to all the stoppages.

TSU was 20-for-32 at the charity stripe. Wyoming, 12-of-24.

"I really want to see more from the bigs, right? Like, I know the guards are always going to have more opportunities, but when we throw the ball into the bigs -- when the bigs get the ball -- we have to play more efficient and not foul in the minutes we're playing," Wicks said. "We have to be able to go finish when we get the opportunities. That's going to make or break who we are going to be down the stretch of the season, is whether or not our big play can continue to develop and still be big and impactful, right? Because if that doesn't work, then teams are going to key on our guards."

A big test awaits this mishmash roster Wednesday night in Lubbock. Wicks joked that his group needs to go down and get some "oil money" when they take on the Red Raiders at 6 p.m. inside United Supermarkets Arena.

Forward JT Toppin, who was the Mountain West's Co-Freshman of the Year at New Mexico last season, is leading ol' friend Jeff Linder's offense with a 22-point average through two games. Darrion Williams is also landing in double-figures inside the block.

Texas Tech is 2-0 and scoring 90 points an outing.