Wyoming’s Mason Walters Has a Plan to Break Out of Slump: Shoot

LARAMIE -- An hour after the more than 3,000 in attendance vacated the Arena-Auditorium last Tuesday night, Mason Walters' night was just getting started.

Wyoming's senior forward connected on just 3-of-12 shots from the field in a lopsided 91-73 loss to No. 25 New Mexico. He misfired on all four of his shots from distance and hauled in only four rebounds.

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Three days prior, Walters snagged a season-high 13 boards against UNLV.

That was the good news. The bad?

He made just two buckets in yet another ugly road setback in Sin City, the Cowboys' 20th straight regular-season loss inside the Thomas and Mack Center.

The echo of Walter's dribbling was a constant inside Wyoming's home arena. So was swishing of the nets along with those ever-present squeaky sneakers. He eventually blasted some country music while he all alone put up shots late into the night.

There was a purpose.

His grand plan to turn this thing around is a simple one: Keep shooting.

"I'm just staying in the gym and staying positive," the 6-foot-9 forward said on Monday. "They'll eventually fall."

His head coach agrees.

"As long as he's shooting the right shots, I mean, he needs to continue to shoot them," Jeff Linder added.

Wyoming better hope they start to go in.

When Walters nets better than 40% of his looks, the Cowboys are 4-1 since he made his long-awaited debut in this lineup in late December. A thumb injury on his non-shooting hand cost him the first 10 games of his UW career.

When Walters doesn't hit that benchmark, this team is just 2-4.

Linder said with a "six-and-a-half man rotation" no one can afford to have an off game. He added the staff needs to do a better job of creating the right matchups so Walters can utilize his strengths, such as finding the open man or backing guys down.

Linder often compares Walters to Hunter Maldonado. In other words, he has all the tools plus an extremely high basketball IQ.

"A lot of the offense kind of runs through him," Linder said. "So we give him a lot of responsibility, which he's capable of doing."

He also said Walters' injury, along with the learning curve of the Division-I game, has created a crash course on the fly.

"It just just took away some of those reps to kind of feel the speed of the game, which I think he's done a really good job of," Linder continued. "I mean, he's a guy that definitely would help the cause and put a little bit more pressure (on defenses) if we can get him to make one or two threes, which he's capable of doing. Then, it's being a guy that obviously can create easy shots for guys."

During his four-year stint at the University of Jamestown, Walters drilled 114 triples, shooting 37% from beyond the arc. He has connected on just 4-of-27 since arriving in Laramie.

The reigning NAIA Player of the Year, Walters is averaging better than 12 points a night. He also adds 5.2 rebounds and nearly two assists. His most-productive outing came in an 83-72 road win at Air Force. That night in Colorado Springs, Walters bullied his way to 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He also pulled down seven boards and dished out three assists.

Wyoming needs that guy to show up down the stretch, beginning with front-running Utah State Wednesday night in Laramie.

"I need to bring a different level of intensity," he said. "There are ups and downs in basketball just like in life itself. I just know I'm confident in my abilities. I need to stay confident and keep shooting. I'm trying to limit the lows.

"We need to get the good times rolling again and keep it going."