Emotional Cowboys fall to Boise State at home

A little more than 48 hours after their deaths, the Cowboys suited up with heavy hearts against the Broncos.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Wyoming swimmers and their families," UW guard Kenny Foster said. "It’s a terrible, terrible incident that happened, but we as a community stand behind the families. If there’s anything we can do as an organization, as a school, as a university or as a community, we’ll be here for them.”

After an emotional pregame tribute, the Broncos took care of business on the court to move into a tie for first place in the Mountain West standings with Utah State. Boise State beat the Cowboys 92-72 to improve to 19-8 overall and 10-4 in conference play.

The loss dropped the Cowboys to 13-14 and 6-8.

Boise State shot 34-of-63 (54%) from the field and 10-of-26 (38%) from 3-point range and led by as many as 28 points in the second half. The Cowboys also shot relatively well at 24-of-48 (50%) from the field and 6-of-18 (33%) from deep, but were out-rebounded 30-6 in the second half.

Saturday's loss was UW's fifth in its past six games.

“Nobody likes to lose by 20 on their home court,” UW forward Mason Walters said. “Obviously, it’s tough to have that crowd — a lot of people came out to the game — and we didn’t play like we should have. We kind of got embarrassed.

"... Going forward, I think we’re all positive still. We know we beat three of the last four teams that we play, so there’s no reason we can’t compete with anybody. I 100% believe that. We just have to find a way to put it together.”

Boise State raced out to a 9-2 lead to start the game, but the Cowboys answered with a 7-0 run to tie it 9-9 with 15 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the first half. The tie was the closest UW got to a lead the rest of the way.

The Broncos outscored UW 42-27 through the final 15 minutes of the first half to build a comfortable 51-36 lead going into the break.

Boise State ended the first half 18-of-27 (67%) from the field and 7-of-13 (54%) from deep. Forward Tyson Degenhart led Boise State with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the first frame, followed by guard Max Rice with 12.

Guard Sam Griffin led UW through the first 20 minutes with 11 points. The Cowboys shot 13-of-25 (43%) from the field and 3-of-7 (43%) from 3-point range in the first half.

Boise State continued to pad its lead with separate 5-0, 6-0 and 6-0 runs to go in front by 28. The Cowboys mustered a 9-0 run get cut the Broncos' lead down to 19, but a comeback wasn't in the cards for UW as it took the 20-point loss.

Degenhart led the Broncos with 22 points, followed by O'Mar Stanley with 19 and Rice with 16. Griffin had a team-high 16 points for the Cowboys, while Walters and guard Kael Combs added 15 and 10, respectively.

“They’re big and physical,” Walters said. “That was just kind of the story of the game. They had way too many offensive rebounds. As a group, and as bigs especially, we just didn’t do a good enough job rebounding.

"We just have to find a way to keep getting better. Eventually, we have to figure it out.”

The Cowboys host UNLV (16-10, 9-5) at 7 p.m. Tuesday inside the Arena-Auditorium. The Rebels beat UW 62-48 earlier this month in Las Vegas.

"We lost to a very good team, and we knew that coming in,” UW coach Jeff Linder said. “When there are 140 possessions in a game, it is the team that plays with the best effort that is going to win.

"For the guys moving forward, we must have the ability to sit down and get some stops. To guard at this level is just a matter of guarding your guy. But we know it doesn’t get any easier. We are disappointed, but we must move forward.”

BOISE ST. 92, WYOMING 72

Boise State: Anderson III 5-8 2-3 12, Stanley 8-14 3-4 19, Degenhart 8-10 3-4 22, Agbo 3-7 0-1 7, Rice 4-9 6-6 16, Young 0-1 0-0 0, Keene 0-2 0-0 0, Meadow 2-4 0-0 6, Whiting 4-7 0-0 10, Martin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 34-63 14-18 92.

Wyoming: Wenzel 1-5 2-2 5, Griffin 5-12 3-4 16, Kot 3-6 0-0 6, Walters 6-11 2-3 15, Powell 0-0 4-4 4, Manyawu 3-3 2-4 8, Combs 4-6 4-8 12, Foster 1-4 1-3 3, Roberson 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 24-48 18-28 72.

Halftime: Boise State 51-36. 3-pointers: BSU 10-26 (Anderson 0-2, Stanley 0-2, Degenhart 3-4, Agbo 1-1, Rice 2-6, Young 0-1, Keene 0-2, Meadow 2-4, Whiting 2-3, Martin 0-1); UW 6-18 (Wenzel 1-4, Griffin 3-5, Kot 0-2, Walters 1-4, Combs 0-1, Foster 0-1, Roberson 1-1). Rebounds: BSU 43 (Stanley 7), UW 19 (Manyawu 9). Assists: UW 8 (Combs 5), BSU 15 (Anderson III 3, Martin 3). Turnovers: BSU 14 (Anderson III 5), UW 10 (Walters 3). Blocked shots: BSU 1 (Stanley 1), UW 2 (Manyawu 1, Combs 1). Steals: BSU 9 (Anderson III 3); UW 7 (Walters 3). Team fouls: BSU 22, UW 18. Fouled out: BSU 1 (Agbo).

Attendance: 5,180.