• Manyawu records fourth double-double of the season
Nick Seeman
Assistant Athletic Director, Communications
University of Wyoming Athletics
The Wyoming Cowboys dropped an 86-63 road contest to No. 15 Texas on Sunday afternoon in the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. Wyoming had a hard time slowing down one of the nation’s top offenses with the Longhorns shooting 56 percent from the field for the contest.
The Pokes were held to 39 percent from the field for the night. Wyoming was held to just 13 three-point attempts and hit four on the night. The Longhorns held a 38-28 advantage on the glass and were solid in transition with 14 fast break points.
“We were right there in the first eight minutes, but that is what Texas does with their length and athleticism and that is why they are in the top-25,” UW head coach Jeff Linder said. “The difference was their ability to finish at the rim. Overall, we did some good things, when you feel a team like that when you make mistakes, they will make you pay and that is what they did. In the half court in the first half, we did well. But in the second half we got spaced out.”
Wyoming had four players in double-figures. Cam Manyawu recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Texas native Brendan Wenzel and Sam Griffin also added 12 points in the contest. Akuel Kot added 10 points in the game.
Both teams got off to a slow start offensively in the opening four minutes as Wyoming was 1-of-6 from the field and the Longhorns at 1-of-7, as Wyoming had a 3-2 early advantage. Texas would make three-straight field goals to take a 9-5 lead, but Oleg Kojenets stalled the run for a 9-7 contest with under 14 minutes left in the first half.
Griffin would heat up with a pair of free throws and a layup to make it a 13-11 game and Kot tied the game at 13-13 halfway through the half.
Texas would make back-to-back three-pointers to take a 21-15 lead with under eight minutes left in the first frame. The Longhorns added another bucket for an 8-0 run. Manyawu added a jumper and a slam for a 23-19 game with seven minutes left.
The Longhorns pushed the lead to nine points with under five minutes left in the half, holding Wyoming to 1-of-9 from field during the stretch. The lead was pushed to 15 points after a three-pointer at the buzzer for a 41-26 Texas lead.
After Kot opened the second half with a three pointer, Texas went on a 6-0 run to build the lead to 47-29 with under 18 minutes left in the game. Texas would go 5-of-7 from the field and built the lead to 21 points, but a 5-0 run by the Pokes thanks to Caden Powell and Kot made it a 56-40 game with under 14 minutes left.
Wenzel capped the 7-0 run for the Pokes for a 56-42 contest with 13:32 remaining. Texas would hit six-straight field goals and took a 65-46 lead nearly halfway through the second half. Wyoming would push the Texas lead down to 15 points with 8:30 left. The lead was cut to 12 points at 67-55 on a Wenzel three pointer, as it was a part of a stretch of 8-of-9 from the floor for the Pokes
Texas went on a 11-0 run and would push the lead to over 20 points and would take the 86-63 victory over the Pokes.
The Longhorns were led by Max Abmas with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Kadin Shedrick added 17 points.
The Pokes return to action on Friday with a trip to the Pacific Northwest to take on Portland at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
