BOISE — Wyoming could not overcome a late first-half run by Boise State in a 72-62 loss to the Broncos on Tuesday night inside ExtraMile Arena. The Cowboys led by as many as seven points in the opening half but went more than two minutes without a basket to close the first half.
“Players play and tough players win, and our attention on defense lacked a bit tonight,” Wyoming coach Sundance Wicks said. “The guys battled and we were right there but at the end of the day you have to rebound on the road. We gave them loud buckets late in the second half and they were soft buckets that gave them energy. That gave Boise State some juice and that is what we did at Grand Canyon. We have to be tougher down the stretch.”
Damarion Dennis led Wyoming with 16 points for his 14th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 20th of his collegiate career. Nasir (Naz) Meyer added 12 points for his 19th game in double figures this season and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Khaden Bennett finished with nine points.
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Wyoming shot 42 percent from the field and 27 percent from 3-point range with seven makes. Boise State shot 47 percent from the floor and 24 percent from beyond the arc with five 3-pointers. The Broncos held a 35-23 rebounding advantage, including 10 offensive boards.
Dennis sparked the Cowboys early with a 3-pointer and a dunk to help Wyoming to an 11-10 lead. The Cowboys made four of five shots after opening 1 for 4 and held the Broncos without a basket for nearly four minutes to take a 16-10 advantage.
Boise State answered with three straight baskets to cut the lead to 22-19 with five minutes left in the half. Uriyah Rojas knocked down his second 3-pointer of the game to make it 25-19, and Simm-Marten Saadi added his first triple to push the lead to 28-22 with three minutes remaining.
Turnovers hurt Wyoming in the final 90 seconds of the half as Boise State closed on a 9-0 run, including a banked 3-pointer, to take a 32-30 lead into the break. The Cowboys were held scoreless over the final two-plus minutes of the half.
Bennett opened the second half with a basket to tie the game, but Boise State responded with a 5-0 run, led by Javan Buchanan, to take a 37-32 lead. The Broncos later used a 6-0 run to build a 45-35 advantage with 15 minutes remaining.
Wyoming answered with 3-pointers from Bennett and Dennis to cut the deficit to 45-41 with just under 14 minutes left. The Cowboys then held Boise State without a field goal for nearly four minutes and trimmed the margin to two points with under 12 minutes to play. The Broncos responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the lead to 53-45 with 10 minutes remaining.
Wyoming again went nearly four minutes without a field goal as Boise State stretched the lead to 56-47. Meyer beat the shot clock with a jumper and Saadi added a 3-pointer to cut it to 56-52 with under seven minutes left.
Boise State used second-chance opportunities to push the lead back to 10 at 64-54 with just under four minutes to go. The Cowboys scored on back-to-back possessions to make it a six-point game in the final minute, but the Broncos sealed the win at the free-throw line.
Dylan Andrews led Boise State with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Drew Fielder added 18 points and Buchanan finished with 17.
Wyoming returns home Saturday to host Air Force at 2 p.m. inside the Arena-Auditorium in its final Saturday home game of the season.
