The Wyoming Cowboys entered last night’s contest against visiting San Diego State with their first national ranking since 1988, and the Arena Auditorium - and indeed the entire Cowboy State - was buzzing with excitement.
However, San Diego State got the last laugh, and a crucial Mountain West Conference road win, by squeezing past the homestanding Wyoming Cowboys 60-52 in Laramie on Wednesday behind 14 points from Aqeel Quinn and 10 more from Winston Shepard.
The Aztecs’ win ended Wyoming’s 13 game home winning streak and most certainly any chances of staying ranked in the top 25 - for now anyway.
The Pokes were led in scoring by Larry Nance, Jr. who poured in a game high 19 points. Josh Adams contributed 14 of his own, but Wyoming could not find a third scorer and had a total of zero points from its bench.
Early on, it looked as though “Dunk City” would provide yet another victory in front of the home fans, as Derek Cooke Jr. and Nance both put on a fabulous show at the rim.
known as "Dunk City" (AP Photo/Michael Smith)
However, sloppy ballhandling, turnovers and poor shooting from the Pokes ultimately doomed their chances of winning.
"We have a disappointed locker room, and we should have a disappointed locker room," Wyoming coach Larry Shyatt said. "I did not think our team lost, I thought San Diego State beat us. There's a huge difference in that where I've been brought up. There was no quit. There no lack of trying. There was no selfishness. But when you have nine assists, 13 turnovers, and seven shots blocked -- which becomes turnovers -- that's too much to overcome."
The Aztecs, who came in to the game as one of the best defensive teams in the nation, showed just how stingy they could be by holding the otherwise hot-shooting Cowboys to 42% shooting and only 29% from behind the arc.
San Diego State won despite making only 36% of their shots (Wyoming is currently third in the nation in total defense). The Aztecs won both the costless throw battle (19 costlessbie conversions compared to only 13 for Wyoming) and war on the boards by outrebounding the Pokes 34-26, including 13 offensive caroms.
"They were crashing the glass hard. They've got big, strong guys that did their jobs. We did not," Adams said. "We didn't block out like we usually do. It's mistake we need to correct. It wasn't like we weren't trying to block them out. They just outworked us on the boards."
SDSU also outscored the Wyoming bench 24-0, which proved vital at an elevation of 7220 feet in Laramie. A consistent rotation of 9 players helped keep the sea-level Aztecs fresh throughout the game. Trey Kell came off the Aztecs’ bench and scored 12 points, including a 9-10 performance from the costless throw line in the second half.
With the win, San Diego State (13-4) keeps pace with the leaderboard in the MWC with a 3-1 record. Wyoming (15-3) remains at the top of the standings with a 4-1 conference mark, tied with New Mexico and Fresno State.
The Pokes visit Fresno on Saturday before hosting New Mexico a week later, in what will prove to be a crucial stretch of games for the conference leader. San Diego State, meanwhile, hosts UNLV on Saturday and then makes a road trip to Colorado to face Colorado State and Air Force the following week.