Cowboy Can’t Hold Back Tigers in 76-74 Loss

LARAMIE, WYO. – The Wyoming Cowboys could not hold back a Texas Southern rally on Monday evening in the Arena-Auditorium in a 76-74 loss on a last second shot. Wyoming held a 19-point advantage at the break, but UW was held to 31 percent from the field in the second half dropping their first contest of the season.

Wyoming shot 57 percent in the opening frame holding TSU to 38 percent. But the Tigers flipped the tables in the second half shooting 55 percent and used 48 points in the paint on the night. The Cowboys finished the night shooting 45 percent from the field, but were held to one three pointer in the second half after knocking down seven in the opening 20 minutes.

“It was a tale of two halves,” UW head coach Jeff Linder said. “I thought in the first half we played extremely well. We defended well against a team that is picked to win the SWAC. That is a team that was in the same situation with Washington State a few nights ago. In the second half, they decided to sit a couple guys and played a couple of their more experienced, tougher guys and you could see that. I think they’re the 15th or 16th most experienced team in the country. We’re probably one of the 15 least experienced teams in the country. We missed some assignments in the second half and allowed some of their players to do some things that we had talked with our guys about that we needed to take away to be successful.”

The Cowboys were led by junior Hunter Maldonado, as he added a season-high 18 points. He also added nine rebounds. Freshman Marcus Williams added 17 points and four assists, one assists behind the team leader Maldonado. Junior Drew LaMont added 12 points for the Pokes all in the first half. Freshman Jeremiah Oden recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Wyoming will wrap up the homestand on Wednesday hosting Incarnate Word at 7 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium.

Photo: UW Media