The Wyoming men's basketball team has taken more 3-point shots than any team in the Mountain West this season -- 83 more, in fact, than Nevada, which ranks second in that category.
But the Cowboys are making a smaller percentage of those shots, 31.5 percent, than any other team in the conference. Saturday against Boise State, the Cowboys lost by 15 and were outscored by 27 points behind the 3-point line.
So naturally, as Wyoming (14-8, 4-5) prepares to play at San Diego State (11-9. 3-5), the team picked to win the conference in the preseason media poll, the Cowboys' focus is on shooting the long ball better, right?
Not so much.
"Being a former player," head coach Allen Edwards said, "regardless of how much you can say, ?Hey, man, we can?t worry about makes or misses. We still have to worry about defending and rebounding,? that stuff still sinks in your head or creeps into your head. But if we?re going to get better or reach our possible potential, then we can?t let that affect us."
The Boise State loss, just the second all year for Wyoming at home, was particularly painful when it came to 3-point shooting. The Cowboys missed their first 14 shots behind the arc, and hit just three all game, tied for their worst outing of the year. On the other end, Boise State sunk 12 3-pointers, tied for the most all season by a Wyoming opponent.
But the Cowboys' poor shooting from behind the arc Saturday wasn't an anomaly. In conference play, the Cowboys have hit less than 30 percent of their 3s (70 of 237, 29.5 percent).
And though the Cowboys naturally take more shots because of their up-tempo style of play -- 1,310 in total this year, second in the Mountain West -- they are still taking 3-pointers at a substantially higher clip than any other team in the conference. Forty-six percent of Wyoming's shots have been behind the 3-point line. San Diego State, which shoots 3-pointers at the second highest frequency among Mountain West teams, shoots 3s 41.9 percent of the time.
But the biggest concern for Edwards coming off the Boise State loss was the team's level of intensity, not its shooting troubles.
Though Wyoming had won its game three days earlier against UNLV, the Pokes played a lackadaisical second-half after building a 20-point first-half lead. And it was the team from the final 20 minutes of that game that showed up Saturday, despite an enthusiastic practice beforehand.
"I told them, I thought we had one of our best practices in preparation for Boise," Edwards said. "One of our best shoot-arounds in preparation for Boise. But I thought we came out and were sluggish throughout the game."
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Despite how they've practiced, the Cowboys, who would surpass last season's win total with a win Tuesday, have yet to put together consecutive conference wins this season.
"That?s always been a strange dynamic just in the coaching deal," Edwards said. "You have practices and shootarounds like that and sometimes guys show up and are sluggish. And then you walk away from practice or shootaround pissed because you felt like the attention to detail and lack of focus wasn?t there, and then sometimes they come out and have one of their best games.
"It?s hard to tell. I don?t like defeating either side of that. I was just excited in a sense because I thought our energy, our effort and our excitement for the opportunity was there, and I just didn?t think it didn?t carry over to the game."
The Cowboys will need to work out those kinks before taking on the Aztecs on the road, where they have won just one conference game this season.
Though San Diego State has had a rocky start to conference play, beginning 0-3 and entering Tuesday's game on a two-game losing streak, it still has the best scoring defense in the conference and the best field-goal percentage defense.
At least when it comes to 3-point shooting, there is some reason for Wyoming to be optimistic. The Cowboys' 3-point shooting struggles haven't been out of line with their overall shooting. They're also second worst in the conference in total field-goal percentage at 42.2 percent.
And on defense, the Cowboys haven't had many efforts like Saturday's. Wyoming is third best in the conference at defending the 3-pointer (30.5 percent) and 16th best nationally.
Plus, senior Jason McManamen, the Pokes' most prominent 3-point shooting threat, has been in a shooting slump for the majority of conference play. Saturday, however, he hit three 3-pointers, his most since the conference opener, to tie Riley Grabau for third all-time in Wyoming history (171).
"To me, if at the end of the day there was a bright spot, that was probably it," Edwards said. "At least he had an opportunity to see his ball go through the net, which is good. Obviously conversely, nobody else made one. So that kind of hurts.
"But again, we?re in a process. We believe in something, in our system, in our culture that we?re continuing to try to develop. And on that road to development, there are ups, there are downs. We?ve just got to understand when we?re up, what was it that helped us to get there. And when we?re down, what was it? To me, we can?t come back to whether we make or miss shots."
But the Cowboys are making a smaller percentage of those shots, 31.5 percent, than any other team in the conference. Saturday against Boise State, the Cowboys lost by 15 and were outscored by 27 points behind the 3-point line.
So naturally, as Wyoming (14-8, 4-5) prepares to play at San Diego State (11-9. 3-5), the team picked to win the conference in the preseason media poll, the Cowboys' focus is on shooting the long ball better, right?
Not so much.
"Being a former player," head coach Allen Edwards said, "regardless of how much you can say, ?Hey, man, we can?t worry about makes or misses. We still have to worry about defending and rebounding,? that stuff still sinks in your head or creeps into your head. But if we?re going to get better or reach our possible potential, then we can?t let that affect us."
The Boise State loss, just the second all year for Wyoming at home, was particularly painful when it came to 3-point shooting. The Cowboys missed their first 14 shots behind the arc, and hit just three all game, tied for their worst outing of the year. On the other end, Boise State sunk 12 3-pointers, tied for the most all season by a Wyoming opponent.
But the Cowboys' poor shooting from behind the arc Saturday wasn't an anomaly. In conference play, the Cowboys have hit less than 30 percent of their 3s (70 of 237, 29.5 percent).
And though the Cowboys naturally take more shots because of their up-tempo style of play -- 1,310 in total this year, second in the Mountain West -- they are still taking 3-pointers at a substantially higher clip than any other team in the conference. Forty-six percent of Wyoming's shots have been behind the 3-point line. San Diego State, which shoots 3-pointers at the second highest frequency among Mountain West teams, shoots 3s 41.9 percent of the time.
But the biggest concern for Edwards coming off the Boise State loss was the team's level of intensity, not its shooting troubles.
Though Wyoming had won its game three days earlier against UNLV, the Pokes played a lackadaisical second-half after building a 20-point first-half lead. And it was the team from the final 20 minutes of that game that showed up Saturday, despite an enthusiastic practice beforehand.
"I told them, I thought we had one of our best practices in preparation for Boise," Edwards said. "One of our best shoot-arounds in preparation for Boise. But I thought we came out and were sluggish throughout the game."
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Despite how they've practiced, the Cowboys, who would surpass last season's win total with a win Tuesday, have yet to put together consecutive conference wins this season.
"That?s always been a strange dynamic just in the coaching deal," Edwards said. "You have practices and shootarounds like that and sometimes guys show up and are sluggish. And then you walk away from practice or shootaround pissed because you felt like the attention to detail and lack of focus wasn?t there, and then sometimes they come out and have one of their best games.
"It?s hard to tell. I don?t like defeating either side of that. I was just excited in a sense because I thought our energy, our effort and our excitement for the opportunity was there, and I just didn?t think it didn?t carry over to the game."
The Cowboys will need to work out those kinks before taking on the Aztecs on the road, where they have won just one conference game this season.
Though San Diego State has had a rocky start to conference play, beginning 0-3 and entering Tuesday's game on a two-game losing streak, it still has the best scoring defense in the conference and the best field-goal percentage defense.
At least when it comes to 3-point shooting, there is some reason for Wyoming to be optimistic. The Cowboys' 3-point shooting struggles haven't been out of line with their overall shooting. They're also second worst in the conference in total field-goal percentage at 42.2 percent.
And on defense, the Cowboys haven't had many efforts like Saturday's. Wyoming is third best in the conference at defending the 3-pointer (30.5 percent) and 16th best nationally.
Plus, senior Jason McManamen, the Pokes' most prominent 3-point shooting threat, has been in a shooting slump for the majority of conference play. Saturday, however, he hit three 3-pointers, his most since the conference opener, to tie Riley Grabau for third all-time in Wyoming history (171).
"To me, if at the end of the day there was a bright spot, that was probably it," Edwards said. "At least he had an opportunity to see his ball go through the net, which is good. Obviously conversely, nobody else made one. So that kind of hurts.
"But again, we?re in a process. We believe in something, in our system, in our culture that we?re continuing to try to develop. And on that road to development, there are ups, there are downs. We?ve just got to understand when we?re up, what was it that helped us to get there. And when we?re down, what was it? To me, we can?t come back to whether we make or miss shots."
