
Tuck’s Take: Wicks Still in Search of Physicality, Toughness
LARAMIE -- The question: Where do you even begin when it comes to limiting Nique Clifford?
The answer from Wyoming head coach Sundance Wicks: "Put bodies around him."
Jordan Nesbitt tried. So did Touko Tainamo, Matija Belic and Obi Agbim, among others.
It didn't work.

Colorado State's fifth-year senior did it all on Saturday afternoon inside the Arena-Auditorium, netting a game-high 23 points, pulling down 11 rebounds and dishing out five assists in a 79-63 victory in the 243rd edition of the Border War.
The Cowboys have now dropped three straight and are sitting at .500 in the overall standings. That mark is 2-5 in league play.
"They have a really good player in Nique Clifford," Wicks said postgame. "He's (Hunter Maldonado) Maldo-esque in a lot of ways, like a triple-double wing that can handle the basketball. You don't have a lot of those guys out there, which is why he's on (NBA) draft boards and will be highly sought after.
"That guy right there does a lot for a program, because he's an ultimate connector. "
Wicks followed by saying "defense wins championships" and "rebounds get you rings."
His team did little of either in this one.
The visitors shot 52% from the floor and added eight triples. CSU also missed just two freebies from the stripe on 17 attempts. Led by Clifford, the Rams also claimed the battle on the boards, 37-28. They were a plus-10 on the defensive glass. That led to seven second-chance points.
This is nothing new during this recent slide.
In back-to-back losses to New Mexico and Boise State, the Cowboys have lost the rebounding battle, 77-63. That's led to 20 immediate points. The Lobos had a rough first half in Laramie, connecting on just 5-of-27 shots. They went on to erase a 14-point halftime deficit, hitting nearly 50% of their attempts over the final 20 minutes.
The Broncos were on fire from the tip, hovering around 60% in a 41-point blowout last Tuesday inside ExtraMile Arena.
Wicks said he has an elite scorer in Obi Agbim, who once again poured in a team-best 26 against the Rams. That job is filled. Metrics, he added, tell him he has plenty of role players. He is simply looking for efficiency on offense.
What he's really in search of is the effort it takes to sit down on the defensive end of the floor and get to work.
That has been MIA over the last five halves of basketball.
"There needs to be a humility driven approach and a commitment to defending, rebounding and keeping the flow," he said. "That job is open for seven, eight guys out there ... what have I preached from the jump? The first thing I talk about is defend and rebound, take care of the basketball, keep the flow.
"... If you want the role as a scorer, you have to be an efficient scorer. That's how that works. So, some of these guys are auditioning for the wrong job."
Oleg Kojenets was the only Cowboy to finish on the plus side of the stat sheet after this latest lopsided loss. He finished a plus-6 in 14 minutes of action. Wicks said he has accepted his limited role.
"He's a culture guy," Wicks added.
Others? Not so much.
Agbim was a minus-15. So was Nesbitt. Dontaie Allen was 13 in the negative. Abou Magassa, minus-11. Cole Henry, 10 below zero.
That's Wicks' starting five on this day.
"I know what it is," he said, referring to the issues plaguing this team of late. "I got to hold the line and try to find the guys that are committed to being those guys, and that's how we move forward from this situation."
Where's the pride?
Donovan Dent is coming to town. Who wants to attempt to shut him down? Tyson Degenhart is on deck. Who wants to prove themselves against him? Clifford is calling. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Easier said than done, of course, but why the lack of urgency?
Those three have combined to score 75 points in four outings. Wyoming still gets to see Dent and Clifford again this winter -- on the road.
Wicks clearly knows the problem. It's glaring. The bench, they say, is the greatest motivator. Time for someone to take a seat?
My initial reaction is how? Who? This head coach, though, is building a program -- setting the standard. He's not afraid to send a message, despite having a roster littered with one-and-done players. That could lead to more losses. That could lead to ugly finishes.
That's OK.
Wyoming did show some fight in the second frame after going down by as many as 14 in the first half. An Allen triple at the 13:58 mark finally brought the nearly 5,000 in attendance to their collective feet. The deficit was down to three.
For 18 seconds, anyway.
Kyle Jorgensen swished one from deep on the following possession. Clifford added another on the Rams next trip down the floor. The wind was officially out of the sail.
"Two things: physicality and toughness," Wicks said of that swing. "(We) missed physical finishes and didn't get tough stops. We're going to have to make physical finishes. We have to finish through physicality. You have to get tougher, right?"
Right?
University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com
- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
More From 7220 Sports








