Sharing is Caring: Wyoming 77th in Nation in Assists Per Game

LARAMIE -- Leland Walker took the in-bounds pass and slowly dribbled across the timeline.

Wyoming's point guard, with a defender on his hip, dished the ball to Khaden Bennett at the edge of the arc. The junior took one step to his right before firing a two-handed bounce pass to Kiani Saxon, who was all alone at the top of the key after faking the high pick and roll.

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The 6-foot-8 graduate transfer, making his second consecutive start, had plenty of time -- and room -- to put up a shot, but instead whistled a perfect strike to Matija Belic, who was all alone on the backdoor cut.

That was the first bucket of the night last Tuesday in what would eventually become a 106-79 offensive onslaught.

The Cowboys, led by big men Gavin Gores and Saxon, capped the opening 20 minutes against South Dakota with 13 assists. The forwards accounted for six of those.

The first eight makes of the night came courtesy of a helper.

After the final horn sounded, Wyoming had 21 assists on 40 made shots. Sixty points came in the paint. Twenty-seven more came via the three-ball. Naz Meyer led all scorers with 26 points. That's the most from a true freshman since Graham Ike poured in 32 in the opening round of the Mountain West Tournament back in 2021.

Impressive? You bet.

More so, arguably, Walker and Saxon, both finished the night with four assists. Gores pitched in with three. Two others, Bennett and Damarion Dennis, finished with a pair. The latter also netted 21 points.

"Our guys share," Sundance Wicks said postgame. "That's one common denominator. They've done it all year. They share the basketball."

Wyoming's head coach said the gospel he preaches on a daily basis is simply honoring the core principles of the game. Assists, and lack of turnovers, are right near the top of that list.

"Don't look for 'me' shots, look for 'we' shots," he continued. "It really makes me happy watching our team play the right way."

The Cowboys are ranked 77th in the nation out of 361 programs, averaging 16.6 helpers an outing. That's the third-best mark in the conference behind only Utah State (18.7) and Colorado State (18.2).

That's just part of the reason Wyoming is the highest scoring team in the league at 88 points per game. Of the 37 teams ahead of them in that all-important department, nine are currently in the AP Top 25.

"I feel like we play for each other, and I feel like that's why we get so many assists," Meyer said. "We're not selfish. We always say all the time, 'It's not our shot, it's the team's shot.'"

"We're just trying to win," Dennis added, flashing a smile.

When Wicks sat down to address the media, he began by saying, "I'm a sicko."

He was not just referring to this victory over the Yotes, a form of revenge after a one-point setback inside their building 364 days prior, but a comment made to him last winter by former Wyoming women's coach Gerald Mattinson.

The retired bench boss told Wicks how impressed he was by the gift-giving nature of visiting CSU in a 79-63 victory inside the Arena-Auditorium last January. The Rams capped that Border War meeting with 17 assists.

"I know what that means," Wicks said, adding his team finished with just four that afternoon. "I mean, look, you got to play the right way. You got to go recruit the right way so you can play the right way. You got to get guys who care and can share. It's like what you learn in kindergarten. Learning how to share is the first thing you do, right?"

This version of the Cowboys has certainly done that.

"I want Gerald Mattinson to sit up there and be like, 'I like watching you guys play because you share the basketball,'" he added. "I don't ever want to hear that backhanded compliment crap ever again."

Wyoming will cap the non-conference schedule Monday night inside the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls against South Dakota State. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m.

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