The Wyoming Cowboys couldn’t overcome poor first half shooting in a 74-57 loss to San Diego State on Wednesday evening in the Arena-Auditorium. It marked only the second home loss of the season for the Brown and Gold, as UW falls to 11-6 overall and 2-4 in conference play with the loss to the Aztecs, who are tied for first in the conference.
“We can collectively become a tougher team if we believe in the process and right now, I’m not sure we are believing in that and seeing the lack of response was disappointing,” UW head coach Sundance Wicks said. “The product we put out tonight, they smacked us in transition, and we uncharacteristically shot threes without getting to the paint and kudos to San Diego State that is a really good team and have been a really good team for a long time. We are fighting for our standard every day.”
Wyoming shot 31 percent from the field for a season low. Wyoming added 10 threes but shot only 29 percent going 10-of-34. The Aztecs shot 50 percent from the field and shot 41 percent from behind the arc going 7-of-17. Both teams grabbed 34 rebounds in the contest. Wyoming recorded 11 rebounds with San Diego State adding eight. UW was outscored 34-14 in the game.
Wyoming was led by freshman Gavin Gores with 12 points for a career high. He has scored in double-figures in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. He also added eight rebounds on the night for a career best. Leland Walker added 10 points and added five rebounds and five assists. Nasir (Naz) Meyer added 13 points for his 12th game this season with 10 or more points. He has scored in double-figures 12 times this season and 65 in his career. Khaden Bennett recorded a career-high seven assists.
Both teams could each only manage a bucket in the first two minutes of the contest. Wyoming went on a 5-0 run and took a 7-4 lead thanks to a triple from Bennett and a layup from Abou Magassa. Wyoming held the Aztecs without a bucket for nearly four minutes until SDSU tied the game with 14 minutes left in the half.
The Pokes would later take a 13-9 lead on Kiani Saxon three-pointer with just under 11 minutes left in the first half. SDSU went on a 7-0 run over 90 seconds to take a 16-13 lead with under nine minutes left in the first stanza.
San Diego State held the Pokes without a bucket for four minutes and built a 20-14 lead, but Meyer added a three to stop the run at the seven-minute mark. But an 8-0 run and built a double-digit lead at 28-17.
Wyoming missed eight straight and went 1-of-15 with the Aztecs pushing the lead to as much as 13 points with three minutes left in the first half. SDSU would take that lead into the half as it was a 38-25 contest.
Gores recorded six points early in the second half, which included a pair of dunks for a 45-35 contest with under 17 minutes left. He would get to double-figures for the second-straight game. But a 6-0 run for SDSU made it a 51-35 game with under 15 minutes left.
Another run by the Aztecs made it a 21-point contest with 13 minutes left. They would control the action from there and would take the 74-57 win over the Pokes.
San Diego State was led by Reese Dixon-Waters with 13 points, as he was 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Mile Byrd added 12 points and led the team with four assists. Seven Aztecs had three or more rebounds in the contest.
The Pokes return to action on Saturday with a trip to Fresno State to take on the Bulldogs inside the Save Mart Center. Action is set to start at 5 p.m. on the Mountain West Network.
