Wyoming Falters in Final Home Game

The 16 points and 6 rebounds from Desmar Jackson were not enough to give Djibril Thiam a victory on his senior night as the University of Wyoming Cowboys lost, 85-58, to the no. 9 San Diego State University Aztecs Tuesday night in the Arena Auditorium.

Wyoming (10-19, 3-12) led for much of the first ten minutes and were up 15-14 with 9:35 left in the half. Then San Diego State (28-2, 13-2) outscored the Cowboys 23-5 before halftime to take a 37-20 lead into the locker room.

"At the 7:51 media timeout of the first half, the score was 16-15, and we felt pretty good. Even at the 4-minute media timeout, we were only down by about eight (20-28). But from that point on, we didn't compete or play hard enough to match them." -Interim Coach Langley

In the first half, UW shot just 27 percent and committed 13 turnovers which translated to 16 points for the Aztecs who shot 47% and out-rebounded the Cowboys 22-17.

The second half saw the margin slowly widen to 27 points in the first nine minutes while both Amath M'Baye and Thiam picked up their fourth fouls. The Cowboys could not pull any closer than 21 points the rest of the way.

"I felt like on the defensive end, you know, we got some turnovers. So we was able to run and get lay-ups and stuff like that. Then I think we stopped guarding. So you know it was hard for us to get fast break points, easy points. I just think we gave up a little bit on defense. On the defensive side, we stopped working." -Desmar Jackson

UW forced 15 turnovers from the Aztecs which was just one short of their season high, but San Diego State held Wyoming to 9 boards in the second half to out-rebound the Pokes 43-26 for the game.

As a team Wyoming shot 43 percent from the field, 13 percent from beyond the arc and 56 percent from the free throw line. The Cowboys had 7 assists on 23 field goals and committed 17 turnovers.

Interim Head Coach Fred Langley thought his team's performance was mix of a lack of confidence and effort.

"I got the feeling for the first time, you know, we went up against some of these guys and got our stuff tossed and were like, 'ooh'. I think we questioned our self for the first time in a while and I don't think we responded. I think first you have to look at us as coaches I don't think we had the guys ready to play tonight for whatever reason. So I take responsibility for that. I think they have to take responsibility as well. The hardest thing for me was that this was the last game in the AA for Djibril Thiam." -Interim Coach Langley

Thiam, the lone senior for the Cowboys, put up 13 points to score in double figures for a second consecutive game and the 14th time in his career.

Four SDSU players scored in double figures led by Malcolm Thomas, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double this season. Teammate Brian Carlwell recorded a career high with 15 points. They were followed by Kawhi Leonard with 12 points and 9 rebounds and D.J. Gay with 9 points.

The final game of the regular season for the Cowboys will be on Saturday, March 5th in Provo, Utah where Wyoming will take on BYU at 6 p.m. There will be coverage on KCGY at 5:30 p.m.