The Wyoming Cowboys surprised even themselves last Saturday.
The Cowboys, down 11 to the Colorado State Rams, went on an improbable 12-1 run in the final 50 seconds of regulation to force overtime. That momentum carried over to the extra five minutes as Wyoming stole a 79-76 victory against the stunned Rams.
“I’m almost speechless,” Wyoming coach Jeff Linder said. “For our guys to not give in and continue to stay the course was special.”
The victory moved Wyoming (11-9, 4-3) past Colorado State (15-5, 3-4) into the No. 6 spot in this week’s Nevada Appeal Mountain West rankings. No. 7 Colorado State also lost to No. 5 Nevada, 77-64, last week in Reno.
“Some way we found a way to lose that game,” said Colorado State coach Niko Medved of the loss to Wyoming. “Everything conceivable that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. This is a really, really tough loss to swallow.”
Wyoming’s furious rally at the end of regulation was jumpstarted by 7-0 run with five of the points coming from Sam Griffin. Colorado State, though, still led 65-60 with just five seconds to play but the Rams proceeded to commit two fouls and failed to rebound two missed Wyoming free throws as the game somehow went to overtime.
“We had control of the game,” said Medved, whose Rams started the season 13-1.
Wyoming’s Akuel Kot scored 11 of his 18 points in overtime to seal the Cowboys’ win.
“The thing about Akuel is that he doesn’t get tired when the other team gets tired,” Linder said.
The victory is Wyoming’s fifth this season after being down by 10 or more points. The Cowboys also are now just the fifth team in NCAA history to win a game when being down by 11 or more with less than a minute to go. One of the other four to do it was Nevada over New Mexico in 2017.
No. 1 New Mexico didn’t, however, blow any big leads last week in whipping San Jose State, 95-75, and Nevada, 89-55, to improve to 18-3, 6-2.
All five Lobo starters scored 10 or more points against San Jose State. “Nobody has done this to them (San Jose State) in the conference,” New Mexico coach Richard Pitino said. “All their games have been real close. But our guys were locked in. We just exploded offensively at times.”
Those explosions continued on Sunday in the win over Nevada (16-5, 3-4). The Lobos shot 59 percent from the field and 50 percent (11-of-22) on 3-pointers to bury the Wolf Pack.
“It was just a great performance all-around by our guys,” Pitino said. “We got better as the game went on. The confidence is certainly building.”
Nevada failed to score 60 points in a game for the fourth time this season and third time in its last five games.
“We’ve just bought in defensively,” said New Mexico guard Jaelen House, who had 21 points, six assists and six steals against Nevada and helped shut down Wolf Pack guard Jarod Lucas (nine points on 3-of-13 shooting).
New Mexico has now won five games in a row by an average of 21 points since an 83-73 loss at UNLV on Jan. 9.
“After UNLV we looked ourselves in the mirror and said, ‘We’re better than this,’” Pitino said.
No. 2 Utah State (18-2, 6-2) outlasted No. 4 Boise State, 90-84, in overtime last week. The Aggies got 19 points from Darius Brown, 18 from Ian Martinez and 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists from Great Osobor.
“We just made enough big plays to win,” Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle said. “When we needed it, they were ready. We weren’t scared of the moment.”
Tyson Degenhart scored 24 points and O’Mar Stanley had 20 for Boise State (14-6, 5-2). “Sometimes the game takes and sometimes the game gives,” Stanley said. “That’s basketball. We’ll bounce back.”
Boise State has gone just 2-2 since beating Nevada in Reno, 64-56, on Jan. 12. Both of the losses (UNLV, Utah State) came at Boise, snapping a 22-game winning streak at home for the Broncos.
“We just couldn’t find any consistency on offense or defense,” said Degenhart after the loss to Utah State. “You have to bring your ‘A’ game every night in the Mountain West. There’s just too many good teams to take a game off.”
No. 3 San Diego State (16-4, 5-2) beat Wyoming, 81-65, last week. Wyoming led 41-36 with 18 minutes to go, but the Aztecs went on a 28-8 run over the next 10 minutes to lead 64-49.
No. 8 UNLV (10-9, 3-4) was blitzed by Air Force, 90-58, last Tuesday in one of the most sunning results in the Mountain West this season. The Rebels, though, rebounded four nights later to turn back San Jose State, 77-65, on the road after trailing 39-32 at halftime.
“We’ve been sitting on this for three days knowing nobody thought we were going to come in here and play well,” said UNLV coach Kevin Kruger after beating San Jose State.
UNLV made its final 14 shots to hold off San Jose State to finish 30-of-44 (68 percent) from the floor for the game. Keylan Boone led UNLV with 18 points.
“There are a lot of highs and lows in a season,” Boone said. “You don’t want anything, high or low, to deter you. Stay resilient, stay cruising and we’ll figure it out as a team.”
No. 9 Fresno State (9-11, 2-5) put a scare into Boise State before losing, 72-68, last Tuesday and then whipped No. 11 Air Force, 84-70, on Saturday after trailing 43-40 at halftime.
There are a number of pivotal games in the Mountain West this week, including San Diego State at Colorado State on Tuesday followed by Boise State at New Mexico on Wednesday and Utah State at San Diego State on Saturday.
Nevada, losers of four of its last five games, will host San Jose State on Friday (8 p.m.) at Lawlor Events Center. The last time the teams met, San Jose State eliminated the Wolf Pack from the Mountain West tournament, 81-77 in overtime, on March 9.
The Nevada Appeal Mountain West men’s basketball rankings for the week of Jan. 29:
1. NEW MEXICO (18-3, 6-2): Last week: New Mexico 95, San Jose State 75 (Jan. 24); New Mexico 89, Nevada 55 (Jan. 28). This week: Boise State at New Mexico (Jan. 31).
2. UTAH STATE (18-2, 6-1): Last week: Utah State 90, Boise State 84, OT (Jan. 27). This week: San Jose State at Utah State (Jan. 30); Utah State at San Diego State (Feb. 3).
3. SAN DIEGO STATE (16-4, 5-2): Last week: San Diego State 81, Wyoming 65 (Jan. 23). This week: San Diego State at Colorado State (Jan. 30); Utah State at San Diego State (Feb. 3).
4. BOISE STATE (14-6, 5-2): Last week: Boise State 72, Fresno State 68 (Jan. 23); Utah State 90, Boise State 84, OT (Jan. 27). This week: Boise State at New Mexico (Jan. 31); Air Force at Boise State (Feb. 3).
5. NEVADA (16-5, 3-4): Last week: Nevada 77, Colorado State 64 (Jan. 24); New Mexico 89, Nevada 55 (Jan. 28). This week: San Jose State at Nevada (Feb. 2).
6. WYOMING (11-9, 4-3): Last week: San Diego State 81, Wyoming 65 (Jan. 23); Wyoming 79, Colorado State 76, OT (Jan. 27). This week: Wyoming at Air Force (Jan. 30); Wyoming at UNLV (Feb. 3).
7. COLORADO STATE (15-5, 3-4): Last week: Nevada 77, Colorado State 64 (Jan. 24); Wyoming 79, Colorado State 76, OT (Jan. 27). This week: San Diego State at Colorado State (Jan. 30); Colorado State at Fresno State (Feb. 3).
8. UNLV (10-9, 3-4): Last week: Air Force 90, UNLV 58 (Jan. 23); UNLV 77, San Jose State 65 (Jan. 27). This week: Fresno State at UNLV (Jan. 30); Wyoming at UNLV (Feb. 3).
9. FRESNO STATE (9-11, 2-5): Last week: Boise State 72, Fresno State 68 (Jan. 23); Fresno State 84, Air Force 70 (Jan. 27). This week: Fresno State at UNLV (Jan. 30); Colorado State at Fresno State (Feb. 3).
10. SAN JOSE STATE (8-12, 1-6): Last week: New Mexico 95, San Jose State 75 (Jan. 24); UNLV 77, San Jose State 65 (Jan. 27). This week: San Jose State at Colorado State (Jan. 30); San Jose State at Nevada (Feb. 2).
11. AIR FORCE (8-11, 1-6): Last week: Air Force 90, UNLV 58 (Jan. 23); Fresno State 84, Air Force 70 (Jan. 27). This week: Wyoming at Air Force (Jan. 30); Air Force at Boise State (Feb. 3).