Cowboys are at the crossroads

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If ever there were a must-win situation, today's would seem to qualify.

Then again, it can't really be a must-win if the Cowboys don't believe in such things.

Either way, Wyoming gets back-to-back home games against the two teams it's sandwiched between at the bottom of the league standings -- starting with Colorado State this afternoon.

But even coming off a one-point overtime loss that dropped the Cowboys to 1-3 in Mountain West Conference play, UW coach Heath Schroyer won't publicly put any extra emphasis on the rival Rams.

"What I do is I go home and think about what are we going to do to have a good practice on Thursday," Schroyer said after a loss at TCU on Wednesday. "I've never approached anything or any league I've ever been in trying to think about 'We gotta win this.'

"If you think too far ahead, you don't take care of today, so that's all we're worried about."

Still, that's easier said than done for a 36-year-old in his fifth year as a head coach than it is for his group of young players.

And they couldn't help but think of the long-term ramifications of Wednesday's loss and their impending home games.

"We should've had this one," UW freshman center Adam Waddell said. "We have to get the next ones at home. We have to take care of home.

"We'll be looking back on this one wishing we would've had it."

In time that may hold true, especially since the loss was the Pokes' third that either came in overtime or on the final shot of regulation.

But Schroyer has done everything he can to take that thought out of the players' minds right now.

"It's a long haul, a long season," Schroyer said. "There's ups, there's downs, there's emotional wins, there's emotional losses. And that's why I've always said 'What are we going to do to have a good day (Thursday) and get ready to play a good CSU team?'"

It's certainly an improved Colorado State team to be sure.

After a long skid that featured 18 straight regular-season league losses to start Tim Miles' career, the Rams have won two of their last three games, including one at home over UNLV.

"Tim went out and signed a group of junior college kids and those kids are growing up and starting to perform really well," Schroyer said.

Colorado State is led by Marcus Walker, who scores more than 15 points per game. But he and junior Harvey Perry were both held out of Wednesday's victory over Air Force due to unspecified academic issues.

It was unclear at press time whether the two would be back in the lineup today.

Walker's absence would likely make a major difference, but the uncertainty had the Pokes practicing as if all players would be available.

"We're preparing for Walker and Perry, we're preparing for all those guys," Schroyer said. "Any time it's a rivalry, you can throw everything out the window. I know that they're going to come here with a lot of confidence and a lot of energy. They're playing very well and we're going to have to match that."

And as much as Schroyer might not believe it or want to admit it, today's matchup is pivotal.

A couple of home victories would put them right back into the muddled mess of the Mountain West.

And while it's still the first half of the conference season, a loss would leave the Pokes firmly on the outside looking in at a league race the players fully hoped they'd be a part of.

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GIMME FIVE

Wyoming Cowboys

1. PROBABLE STARTERS: Sr. G Brandon Ewing; Sr. G Sean Ogirri; Sr. F Tyson Johnson; Fr. F Afam Muojeke; Fr. C Adam Waddell.

2. PROTECTING HOME: The Cowboys are a perfect 8-0 at home this season and have won nine straight at the Double-A dating back to last season.

3. TOURNEY TILT: Ewing had 29 points but also six turnovers the last time these teams met -- a Colorado State win in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament last season.

4. VITALS: Since UW rattled off a seven-game winning streak from 2000-03, neither the Rams nor Pokes have won more than two games in a row in the series.

5. QUOTE: "If you think too far ahead, you don't take care of today, so that's all we're worried about." UW coach Heath Schroyer.



Colorado State Rams

1. PROBABLE STARTERS: Sr. G Willis Gardner; Fr. G Jesse Carr; So. G Adam Nigon; So. F Andre McFarland; So. F Andy Ogide.

2. ROAD WEARY: The Rams are just 1-6 on the road this year and haven't won a league road game since Jan. 17, 2007, against TCU.

3. TOURNEY TILT: Senior guard Marcus Walker scored 22 points in the Rams' MWC Tournament victory over the Pokes last March. Walker was held out of a game on Wednesday due to academic issues.

4. VITALS: Wyoming leads the overall series 125-84 and holds a 75-37 advantage in Laramie, where it has won seven of the last eight series meetings.

5. QUOTE: "They're playing very well and we're going to have to match that." Schroyer.

 

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Walker-less Rams to face off with high-scoring Cowboys



CSU's leading scorer remains out because of academic issues, leaving the Rams men's basketball team with just one senior and a starting lineup that includes three sophomores and a freshman.

Wyoming, on the other hand, starts three seniors who each average more than 15 points a game, led by guard Brandon Ewing, the Mountain West Conference's leading scorer at 18.5 points a game.

Not exactly the ideal setup for the first battle in Colorado State University's annual Border War with Wyoming. Particularly not at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyo., where the Cowboys (12-6, 1-2 Mountain West Conference) are 8-0 this season and 296-93 all-time. CSU has won in Laramie just once in 14 games since 2001 in a rivalry that includes 209 games since its start in 1911.

"The crowd gets pretty into it, you know the Border War and everything," CSU sophomore forward Andre McFarland said. "I know they're going to have a good turnout. We just have to sustain what they do and not let the crowd affect us, and we'll be all right."

The Rams (7-12, 2-3) are just one season removed from an 0-16 run through the MWC. But they're gaining confidence, even with leading scorer Marcus Walker, a senior guard, and junior guard Harvey Perry sidelined while they "complete academic obligations," secoond-year coach Tim Miles said. CSU, in its first game without Walker and Perry, defeated Air Force 67-56 Tuesday night at Moby Arena and, thanks to a 71-69 win a week earlier over UNLV, has a chance to reach .500 in league play for the first time since early in the 2006-07 season.

"I know they're going to come here with a lot of confidence and a lot of energy," second-year Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said. "They're playing well."

The Cowboys, Miles said, are playing better than their record would indicate. They've had to play three of their first four conference games on the road, yet rallied Wednesday night from a 12-point halftime deficit to force overtime before losing 79-78 at TCU.

Four Wyoming players - Ewing, Tyson Johnson (15.3 points a game), Sean Ogirri (15.2) and Afam Muojeke (14.9) rank among the top nine scorers in the MWC, and their 80.6 points a game as a team leads the MWC and ranks No. 15 nationally. Of those points, 21.1 a game are coming at the free-throw line, where Wyoming averages four more attempts per game than any other MWC team.

"They've got a point guard that draws fouls in Brandon Ewing and a great post-up option in Tyson Johnson (a 6-7, 245-pound forward)," Miles said. "And any time you've got an inside-out combination like that, you're going to live at the foul line."

Still, this season, more than any other, has proven the annual mantra of coaches that any team in the MWC truly can beat any other on any given night. TCU (13-6, 4-1), picked to finish last in a preseason media poll, is alone in first place while preseason favorite UNLV (15-4, 3-2) is fourth, and perennial power Brigham Young (14-4, 2-2) is tied for fifth, just a half-game ahead of CSU.

"Any time you get a league that's got great balance like it does this year, everybody feels like they've got a crack at it, and the more exciting it becomes for the fans and the players," Miles said.