LARAMIE — Wyoming stumbled out of the gate and could not recover Saturday, falling 82-70 to Grand Canyon in its Mountain West opener inside the Arena-Auditorium. The loss was the Cowboys’ first at home this season, dropping UW to 9-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
“That is a really good team we played today,” Wyoming head coach Sundance Wicks said. “They are big and physical and provide matchup problems. We came out a little gun-shy tonight. It is a big learning curve for us. This League, you have to show up every night, and you can’t spot teams points. You have to be tough enough to handle the moment at the start of it all.”
Wyoming was held to a season-low 37 percent shooting from the field and made just three shots from beyond the arc for 12 percent. Grand Canyon shot 57 percent overall and 39 percent from 3-point range. The teams combined for 36 points off turnovers, while the Lopes held a 32-29 rebounding edge.
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Freshman guard Nasir (Naz) Meyer led the Cowboys with 12 points, his fourth straight game in double figures, and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Leland Walker scored 13 points for his 61st career game with 10 or more points. Kiani Saxon added a season-high six points, and Abou Magassa finished with nine points and five rebounds.
Wyoming opened the game with an early 3-pointer from Saxon but went scoreless for more than six minutes as Grand Canyon surged to an 18-3 lead. Walker stopped a 16-0 run with a basket to make it 18-5 with 13 minutes left in the first half.
The Lopes continued to shoot efficiently, extending the lead to 27-8 midway through the half while scoring 11 points off turnovers. Wyoming held Grand Canyon without a field goal for more than four minutes later in the half, but still trailed 32-16 before heading into halftime down 45-26.
The Cowboys opened the second half on a 7-2 run to pull within 47-33 and again held the Lopes scoreless from the field for more than four minutes, though Grand Canyon stayed in control at the free-throw line. Five straight made shots pushed the lead to 62-40 with under 12 minutes remaining.
Wyoming answered with a 6-0 run highlighted by a dunk from Magassa, and Meyer later pushed the score to 67-54 with seven minutes left. The Cowboys, however, were unable to cut the deficit to single digits down the stretch.
Makiah Williams led Grand Canyon with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Jaden Henley added 18 points, also going 6-of-9 from the field.
Wyoming continues Mountain West play on the road, visiting Air Force on Dec. 30 for a 2 p.m. tipoff inside Clune Arena.
