Wyoming Cowboys vs New Mexico Lobos Basketball Recap

Wyoming 67 New Mexico 66

Wyoming was gifted with good fortune in its latest basketball outing. The New Mexico Lobos were flatly exposed… and done in by a familiar basketball demon.

Coach Heath Schroyer and his Wyoming Cowboys finally caught a break as Francisco Cruz's putback at the buzzer gave his club a surprising one-point victory over the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday night at Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming.  Though Cruz scored only 7 points, his bucket at the buzzer was the only one each team will remember.

New Mexico guard Dairese Gary gave the Lobos a one-point lead of their own after sinking two free-throws with just over 20 seconds remaining.  The two points were Gary's 23rd and 24th of the evening, a season best, but in the end they proved to be insufficient; they couldn’t prevent the Lobos from losing a game they should have won.

The Cowboys were led by Daylen Harrison, Adam Waddell and Desmar Jackson, who scored 17, 16 and 15 points. The Cowboys shot over 50 percent on the evening, including seven made three-pointers.

Both squads were locked in a tight battle throughout the contest and the final stat sheet shows that both the Lobos and the Cowboys had room for improvement. Coach Steve Alford's Lobos will look back at missed opportunities at the free-throw line, where New Mexico made only 10-of-19. Ironically, that’s the same conversion rate the Lobos displayed from the 3-point line.

> Browse a great selection of Wyoming Cowboys apparel right here on MWC-Fans.com!

So many contemporary criticisms about the quality of scholastic basketball in America boil down to the notion that players shoot the three and dunk the ball quite well, but have little feel for the mid-range game or for the foul shot. Perhaps that criticism is unwarranted on some occasions, but it certainly applied to New Mexico in this particular contest. What’s even more damning about the Lobos’ faulty evening from the charity stripe is that outside of Gary’s 6-of-7 showing, his teammates were a combined 4-of-12 from the foul line. That’s mind-numbing, to be quite honest.

What’s also hard to contemplate from a New Mexico standpoint is that while foul shots – if performed with more accuracy – would have carried the Lobos across the threshold, the team that won the Mountain West’s regular-season crown in 2010 is now a one-man gang. Gary not only carried this team in terms of scoring and foul shooting; he was the only Lobo to hit double figures in scoring. Gary leads UNM in seven of 10 core offensive categories, so while that’s admirable on an individual level, it also shows how thin the Lobos have become. Darington Hobson and Ramon Martinez gave this program so much power and versatility last year. Now Gary’s doing all the work himself. New Mexico has absorbed bad non-conference losses to Dayton, California and Northern Iowa, and is certain to miss the NCAA Tournament unless it destroys the Mountain West.

Now that the Lobos have stubbed their toes against an 8-8 Wyoming club, that prospect looks far more unlikely. It’s already time to worry if you’re a New Mexico fan; this is not how the 2010-2011 season was supposed to proceed.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer