LARAMIE — Wyoming had five players score in double figures and turned Dartmouth’s mistakes into 26 points in a 93–80 victory Saturday afternoon in the Arena-Auditorium. The Cowboys, who dealt with illness throughout the week, improved to 7–2 and moved to 12–0 in nonconference home games under head coach Sundance Wicks.
“Gutsy performance by our guys tonight,” Wicks said. “Dartmouth was relentless today and they probably thought we were down a little bit and they went after it. I was not happy with our defense in the first half. It was good to see our guys battle back. The irony of this game tonight was five guys in double-figures were some of the sickest guys and they came out ready to rock and roll. You have to learn to win in different ways and a team shot really well on us for the first time all year and we found a way to win.”
Both teams shot above 50 percent from the field — Wyoming at 53 percent and Dartmouth at 51 percent. The Big Green knocked down 12 3-pointers and shot 48 percent from deep, challenging a Cowboys defense that entered the day as one of the nation’s best at defending the arc. Wyoming held a 34–27 rebounding advantage and scored 54 points in the paint. The 26 points off Dartmouth’s 17 turnovers marked a high during the Wicks era.
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Leland Walker led Wyoming with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting, adding four assists and two steals. Adam Harakow scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting with three 3-pointers. Nasir (Naz) Meyer and Khaden Bennett each finished with 14 points; Meyer grabbed a career-high eight rebounds, while Bennett posted a career-high five steals — the most by a Cowboy since Marcus Williams had seven against San Jose State in 2021. Jared Harris added 11 points off the bench.
Wyoming opened the game with three early 3-pointers — two from Simm-Marten Saadi — building an 11–8 lead. Dartmouth matched the hot start, opening 3-of-5 with a pair of threes.
The Cowboys built a five-point lead before Dartmouth responded with a 5–0 run and took a 20–17 advantage after its fourth 3-pointer. The Big Green started 7-for-10 from the field with four makes from deep.
Wyoming tied the game at 25–25 with under 10 minutes left in the first half, as both teams remained above 50 percent shooting. A trio of Wyoming turnovers helped Dartmouth build a 33–27 lead, and despite going more than four minutes without a field goal, the Big Green held a 35–32 edge.
A 3-pointer from Uriyah Rojas put Wyoming ahead 39–37, but Dartmouth’s Connor Amundsen answered with his fourth three of the half to give the Big Green a 40–39 lead at the break.
Dartmouth opened the second half with a 5–0 run to go up 45–39 and stretched the lead to seven while shooting 5-of-6 to start the frame.
Wyoming clawed back, pulling within 58–56 on a Meyer and-one near the 13-minute mark. The Cowboys then used an 8–0 run fueled by turnovers and paint touches to take a 61–58 lead.
A Dartmouth three trimmed Wyoming’s lead to 67–65 with seven minutes left, but the Cowboys responded. Harakow buried a 3-pointer off a pass from Walker to make it 76–68 with five minutes remaining.
After Harris hit a pair of flagrant free throws, Wyoming extended the lead to 78–68. Harris added a fast-break layup to push the margin to 12 with under four minutes left, and the Cowboys controlled the rest of the game to close out the win.
Dartmouth was led by Karem Thomas with 27 points, including a 14-of-17 outing at the free-throw line. Amundsen scored 18 points and Jayden Williams added 14.
Wyoming returns to action Tuesday, hosting South Dakota at 6:30 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium for its final nonconference home game of the season.
