SAN DIEGO – The University of Wyoming men’s basketball team lost its Mountain West opener against the San Diego State Aztecs 67-55 Wednesday night.
The game played in Viejas Arena was a rematch of last season’s conference tournament title game, but the results were much different.
The Cowboys (7-7) were within four points midway through the second half, but the Aztecs (8-6) quickly took the lead back to double digits.
“A disappointing start to the game,” UW head coach Larry Shyatt said in a press release from UW Athletics. “We are down 14 right off the bat. That’s the third time that’s happened and every time we’ve battled back. Nine minutes to go in the game and it’s a four-point game. We chose to go zone and [SDSU’s Jeremy] Hemsley hits two big threes. Very proud to be with this group, but very disappointed that we couldn’t pull it off the last minutes. Winning on the road in conference play is difficult.”
Wyoming topped San Diego State for the MW title last March, but the Aztecs jumped all over the Cowboys early Wednesday to lead by 18 in the first half. The Pokes would battle back to within four at 44-40 midway through the second half, before SDSU responded with back-to-back threes. The Cowboys would cut the lead to nine twice down the stretch, but that would be as close as they could get.
Senior guard Josh Adams broke his streak of three-straight games with 30-plus points by scoring 16 against the Aztecs, his second-lowest output this season. He did add a team-high five rebounds and five assists. Sophomore forward Hayden Dalton had his best game in brown and gold with career highs of 13 points and two blocks to go with four rebounds. Junior guard Jason McManamen added 11 points, including three threes.
The Cowboys continue MW play at Nevada on Saturday at 4 p.m. MT.