Cowboys fall to Bulldogs in 1st round of MW tournament

UW led by nine points with 5 minutes, 50 seconds remaining, but Fresno State ended the game on a 12-1 run in the final 2:54 to come away with a 77-73 win.

The loss was UW’s third consecutive in the conference tournament and ended its season at 15-17 overall.

“Obviously, give credit to Fresno State,” UW coach Jeff Linder said. “We knew after we had beaten them by 39 four days ago that that wasn’t going to be the Fresno State team that we saw today, and we knew that we would see a team a lot like the team that we saw when we had to beat them at the buzzer a couple of months ago at our place.

“Give them credit for finding a way to win that game, which I thought we gave ourselves — we put ourselves in position to win it. But then, at the end of the day, you have to be able to finish.”

Added Fresno State guard Isaiah Pope: “It’s basketball, baby. That’s the beauty of basketball. One day, you lose by 39. One day, you win by four. You know what I’m saying? You got to love it.”

The Cowboys took an early three-point lead with a 5-0 run and followed it up with another 9-2 stretch to build a 17-9 advantage with 11:53 left in the first half. Fresno State got back within one six minutes later, but back-to-back steals helped fuel a 7-0 UW run to put it back up 32-24 with 4:01 left in the period.

The Cowboys extended their lead to double digits with another 6-0 run in the final minute of the half, but Fresno State’s Jalen Weaver hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut UW’s lead to 40-33 going into the halftime break.

Guards Akuel Kot and Sam Griffin led the Cowboys with 14 and 13 points, respectively, in the first half. UW shot 13-of-27 (48.1%) from the field and 6-of-12 (50%) from deep in the first 20 minutes, while Fresno State was 13-of-26 (50%) and 4-of-11 (36.4%).

The Bulldogs came out strong in the second half with a 8-0 run to take their first lead since 18:03 left in the first half. After starting the second half just 2-of-13 from the field, the Cowboys ripped off a huge 10-0 run to take control 67-58 with 5:47 left in the game.

Fresno State refused to go away, putting together another 8-0 surge to regain the lead 73-72 with 1:11 left. After UW guard Kael Combs split a pair of free throws to tie it, Leo Colimerio gave the Bulldogs a two-point lead with a layup after an offensive rebound.

The Cowboys had a chance to win or tie it during their next possession, but UW guard Brendan Wenzel turned the ball over. The Bulldogs extended their lead to four at the free-throw line with two seconds left to seal the win.

UW finished the night just 15-of-26 (57.7%) from the free-throw line. It was a category that ended up being one of the key differences in the game after the Bulldogs went 22-of-23 (95.7%) from the charity stripe.

“It’s tough,” Wenzel said. “They had offensive rebounds. They made free-throws. We didn’t. It all comes down to the little things. That turnover at the end that I had, you just can’t have things like that if you want to win.”

Kot led UW in scoring with 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting, followed by Griffin with 19 and Wenzel with 15. The Cowboys won the turnover battle 18-12 but were out-rebounded 34-29.

Pope led the Bulldogs with 22 points before fouling out late in the second half.

The Bulldogs will take on No. 1-seeded Utah State at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Cowboys will graduate seniors Griffin, Kot and Mason Walters. Wenzel and senior Kenny Foster still have a year of eligibility remaining, but have yet to decide if they’ll use it.

“Everyone says it’s hard to beat (a team) a third time. Well, it’s not that hard. It’s been done many times if you do the things necessary to beat them,” Linder said. “We put ourselves in a position (to win). Sometimes, you just don’t get the breaks. We’ve gotten a lot of breaks. We’ve been really good in close games. That’s the one thing.

“If it’s a close game, our record has been really good, but just a couple of turnovers, the missed free throws and a couple of those fouls where they didn’t have to really earn the basket, those things add up, and it cost us.”

FRESNO ST. 77, WYOMING 73

Fresno State: Hill 2-7 0-0 4, Boakye 1-4 2-2 4, Pope 7-14 7-7 22, Colimerio 4-4 2-2 10, DuSell 4-9 2-2 11, Yap Jr. 4-5 7-8 16, Weaver 3-4 2-2 10. Totals: 25-47 22-23 77.

Wyoming: Wenzel 5-14 2-4 15, Griffin 6-15 4-6 19, Kot 8-15 3-4 23, Walters 3-7 0-0 7, Powell 0-2 2-4 2, Manyawu 0-1 3-4 3, Combs 1-2 1-4 4, Newton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-56 15-26 73.

Halftime: Wyoming 40-33. 3-pointers: FSU 5-15 (Hill 0-1, Pope 1-6, DuSell 1-4, Yap Jr. 1-2, Weaver 2-2); UW 12-26 (Wenzel 3-8, Griffin 3-7, Kot 4-8, Walters 1-1, Combs 1-2). Rebounds: FSU 34 (Boakye 7), UW 29 (Walters 9). Assists: FSU 13 (Hill 4), UW 14 (Griffin 6). Turnovers: FSU 18 (Hill 6), UW 12 (Walters 5). Blocked shots: FSU 1 (Hill 1), UW 6 (Powell 2, Combs 2). Steals: FSU 8 (Pope 3), UW 11 (Walters 5). Fouled out: Fresno State 1 (Hill).