Larry Shyatt's team was as good as gone a few weeks ago, as star forward Larry Nance Jr. was dealing with injuries and an illness, and the squad was coming off of back-to-back losses to Fresno State and UNLV. Nance Jr. returned for the last few games, and Wyoming won their first game of the MWC tournament in a squeaker over Utah State. Few believed they would be able to contend with the hottest team in the nation, the Boise State Broncos, tonight in Las Vegas.
The doubters were proved wrong, as Wyoming used their stifling defense they've become known for to hold Derrick Marks and the Broncos in check, and pushed their way to a hard fought overtime win.
Josh Adams has found his scoring touch this last part of the season, and went off for a season-high 27 points tonight, using his speed to drive into the lane. Nance Jr. showed how scoring comes so easily for him, making spin moves around the men in blue to garner 20 points of his own, as those two led the Wyoming attack.
It was a back-and-forth game, but the Cowboys caught Derrick Marks on a relatively off night, as he went 6-21 shooting, and 2-8 from the outside, although he did lead the team in scoring with 17. Timely buckets by Nick Duncan from the outside and a monsterous effort by James Webb III on the boards kept Boise State in the game, but something felt off about the attack tonight. Webb III had to get a two point tip shot to go to force the game to overtime.
In the bonus session, WYO used a balanced attack, as Derek Cooke pushed into the lane while Riley Grabau got to the charity stripe and converted. Jason McManamen nailed a 3-pointer with under a minute to go, and the game was settled with the Cowboys advancing to the championship game.
This sets up an intriguing situation for both teams. Boise State has likely done enough to get in, as their recent hot stretch and winning of the regular season MWC title should be enough. However, the committee can not deny the head-scratching losses this year to Loyola-Chicago and Fresno State. Although it will only be tiny droplets, BSU will sweat a little on Sunday.
Wyoming, on the other hand, probably still needs the auto-bid by winning the tournament tomorrow to get in. They have double the amount of rough losses to poor teams than BSU does. What they do have going for them is a season sweep of both Colorado State and Boise State. If they lose tomorrow by a slim figure, don't be surprised if the committee still rewards them for their season and gives them an at-large bid. Or, they could elimanate all doubt and just win the tournament. It certainly would be the easy way of settling matters.