Taylor column: Can the Cowboys make a run at the MW tournament?

UW got off to a surprising 5-3 start to the conference season with upset wins over Nevada and then No. 24-ranked Colorado State at home, but they have been quickly grounded with six losses in their past seven tries. UW is five games back in the conference standings with three regular-season games remaining, but there’s still a glimmer of hope for Jeff Linder in his fourth season in Laramie.

That glimmer of hope is the MW tournament next month in Las Vegas.

If the season ended today, the Cowboys would be the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament and would face ninth-seeded Fresno State in the first round. UW beat the Bulldogs 68-67 on a game-winner from Akuel Kot in January at the Arena-Auditorium, and the teams will end the regular season against each other March 9 in California.

Could the Cowboys and Bulldogs see each other in back-to-back games?

A bye in the first round of the MW tournament is out of play now, but a four-game winning streak in a four-day period next month in Vegas could land the Cowboys in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the past three seasons.

Unlikely? Sure. But crazier things have happened in the month of March.

After being blown out by 20 points at home to Boise State on Saturday, the Cowboys responded by forcing overtime against red-hot UNLV on Tuesday night. While UW ultimately fell to the Rebels, the bounce-back performance was enough to give the team confidence going into the final three games of the regular season.

“We proved that we can really play with any team if we really bring it and play defense,” UW forward Mason Walters said. “We’re a tough team to guard offensively, and defensively, when we’re on, we’re as good a team as anybody else.

“It definitely is something to build on going into the last three games of the season before the (MW) tournament.”

Defense will be the key for the Cowboys in Vegas. UW has the worst scoring defense in the conference at 75.9 points allowed per game, a full 10 points below league-leading San Diego State’s mark of 65.9. The Cowboys are also eighth in the MW in field goal defense (45.9%) and 3-point defense (34.3%) going into this weekend.

A lack of depth has played into UW’s struggles on the defensive end. The Cowboys have four players averaging more than 32 minutes per game, including Brendan Wenzel (35.8), Sam Griffin (34.8), Kot (34.3) and Walters (32.6).

Depth in the backcourt has been aided by the return of veteran guard Kenny Foster, and Kobe Newton will likely make his return from a methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection in his right ankle that has kept him out since Jan. 13. True freshman Kael Combs has also picked up valuable minutes in Newton’s absence over the past month and a half.

“(Depth) goes a long way,” Linder said Tuesday. “Kobe wasn’t quite ready, from a conditioning standpoint, to get out there (against UNLV), but when you add him to the mix and even Kenny in his short minutes, (it helps) to be able to kind of spell Wenzel here or there. With Kael coming along, those guys off the bench are actually, in a lot of ways, our better defenders. Especially on the ball.

“... Having those guys (back), now those other guys aren’t having to play as tired. Especially in the case of Sam or Akuel when they’re playing 38-plus minutes a game. Now, you can get them down to 32-34. That just allows us to keep them a little fresher.”

Defensive effort only goes so far. If the Cowboys want to make a run through the gauntlet of the MW tournament, UW’s playmakers will have to make shots. The Cowboys are eighth in the conference in scoring offense at 72.7 points per game and dead-last in field goal shooting at 45%.

UW still leads the MW in 3-point shooting at 36.8%, but that number took a hit over its 1-6 stretch in February. The Cowboys shot 46-of-157 (29.3%) from deep this month, including shooting under 30% in four of their past seven games.

The winner of the No. 8 and No. 9 seed in the MW tournament will feed into the No. 1 seed in the second round. Five teams are still within reach of the regular-season conference title, with Utah State (11-4 MW) and Boise State (11-4) tied atop the standings. The Aggies hold the tiebreaker over the Broncos with two head-to-head wins.

No. 20-ranked San Diego State (11-5) is a half game back, followed by Nevada (10-5) and UNLV (10-5) at one game back in the standings. New Mexico (9-6) is two games back after a dreadful home loss to Air Force last weekend.

SDSU, Colorado State and San Jose State still have byes left this season and will only play two regular-season games in March.

The Cowboys finish the conference season with road games at Colorado State and Fresno State and their home-finale against Air Force. The final stretch of games will play a big factor in UW’s ability to fly to Vegas with enough momentum to pull off four consecutive wins in what should be one of the most competitive conference tournaments in the country.

For this year’s Cowboys, they seem ready for the challenge.

“We have as good a chance as anybody else in the conference,” Foster said. “The Mountain West is phenomenal this year — probably the best it’s been since I’ve been here — so I’m not going to sit here and say it’s not going to be hard, but this is a tough group of guys. This is a close group of guys.

“As weird as it is to say, we’re getting comfortable. … If we can go into that Mountain West tournament 100% healthy and as strong as we possibly can, I don’t see any reason why anybody can really stop us. The only people that are going to stop us is ourselves.”