Wicks Still Looking for 'Pit Bulls' Season Opener 14 Days Away

LARAMIE -- Wyoming football coach Jay Sawvel said last Saturday his program doesn't have the luxury of playing preseason games.

Sundance Wicks does.

7220 Sports

The Cowboys have already taken part in two exhibition tilts -- a 94-68 victory over Northern Colorado and an 89-76 setback last Saturday against TCU -- and a third is on the horizon.

The College of Idaho will pay a visit to the Arena-Auditorium Saturday. Tipoff is set for noon.

Wicks said he likes to know more about his players when it's "under the whistle" before the real contests get underway. Admittedly, he's seen some good -- like the Cowboys shooting better than 50% from the floor -- but he hasn't necessarily loved some of the results on the defensive end.

TCU guard Gavin Sykes, for instance, poured in 17 points in the scrimmage in Midland, Texas. He was 7-of-12 from the field, leading a Horned Frogs squad that sank nearly 46% of its shots. Brock Harding finished with 16 points and Micah Robinson chipped in with 15.

Naz Meyer was the leading scorer in the loss with 24 points, splashing 9-of-13 attempts, including four from beyond the arc. He added three rebounds, a pair of assists and two steals.

Wyoming's sophomore guard said Monday he isn't concerned with that side of the ball.

"The main focus points for us moving forward are how well are we going to rebound, defend, and just toughness," Meyer said. "I feel like Wyoming prides itself on being tough, so we've got to be the toughest team every night."

Neil Summers said he didn't carry his weight in the Lone Star State.

The big man from Laramie netted just three points and recorded a steal. There's a zero, though, in what's supposed to be his top category.

"I didn't get any rebounds, so that was a big problem for me," the 6-foot-9, 282-pound redshirt freshman forward said Monday. "Whether I'm playing 12 minutes or five minutes, I have to get some rebounds. That's a big one for me."

Khaden Barnett, who finished with 17 points against TCU, said his favorite part of this preseason so far is simple: winning. The senior guard, along with Meyer and forward Gavin Gores, accounted for more than 40 points in the lopsided victory over the Bears in Gillette.

Like Meyer, though, he said the emphasis in the coming weeks is glaringly obvious.

"We've got to be better, defensively, as far as defending without fouling, protecting the paint more and sticking to our scout. We had a lot of scout mistakes in that game," Bennett said, referring to TCU. "I think if we can get those things figured out, we should have a chance, because I think we could score with the best of them."

The Cowboys committed an eye-popping 690 fouls last season in 33 games. That's an average of 20-plus an outing. It also ranked 354th out of 361 Division-I programs.

Wicks said two weeks ago he has plenty of "yellow labs" on this current roster. He's in search of a pit bull or two. The more the merrier, he added with that trademark grin. While he's not sure if that player will emerge, he's now shifted his focus to another similar analogy.

"We've shifted the mantra to we just better get a pack of dogs," Wicks said on Monday. "That's the disappointing part for me right now, if I'm being completely, objectively honest. I'm worried that when we go play a team that has some pit bulls, right, and we're yellow labs and we're beagles, if we're not a connected pack, I'm not sure we're going to go take them down."

It's a work in progress.

There are still 14 days until the real bullets fly, too.

"Can we find some semblance of consistency before we start the season?" Wicks openly asked.

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