Two weeks ago, the Wyoming men?s basketball team had hit perhaps its lowest low of the season. The Cowboys fell in the first round of the Mountain West tournament in embarrassing fashion against Air Force, getting behind 25-0 to start the game.
Now, Wyoming is the last Mountain West team standing.
The Cowboys begin a best-of-three CBI championship series with Coastal Carolina at 5:30 p.m. Mountain Time Monday in Conway, South Carolina.
?I wouldn?t want to be in the championship game with nobody but these guys,? junior Lou Adams said. ?We?ve been at it all year. We?ve been through some ups and downs, but this championship will secure our year.?
The Cowboys? ups and downs came mainly in conference play. After a strong 10-3 non-conference season, Wyoming won consecutive games just once in Mountain West play, at times looking like a team capable of making a run but failing to do so come conference tournament time.
In the CBI, however, that run has emerged. Wyoming defeated Eastern Washington 91-81, Missouri-Kansas City 72-61 and Utah Valley 74-68 to advance to its first CBI championship in five tournament appearances. It?s Wyoming?s first three-game win streak this calendar year.
With Nevada out of the NCAA Tournament and Colorado State, Boise State and Fresno State eliminated in the NIT, the Cowboys are all that remains for the Mountain West. In fact, as of Monday, they?re one of just 14 Division-I teams in the country still playing, between the four postseason invitational tournaments.
The Cowboys (21-14) will have to begin this series on the road, however. Wyoming hasn?t played a road game since Feb. 28, and even that game was at nearby Colorado State. The second two games will be in Laramie, tipping off at 7 p.m. Mountain Time Wednesday and 5 p.m. Friday (if necessary).
The Chanticleers (19-17), coming off a sixth place finish in the Sun Belt, defeated Hampton, Loyola (Maryland) and Illinois-Chicago to advance to the championship.
Head coach Cliff Ellis has been with the Chanticleers, whom Wyoming has never played, since 2007. He was previously the head coach of Auburn, Clemson and South Alabama.
?Obviously, Coach Ellis, long time coach in this business,? Edwards said of Ellis, whose career coaching record is 810-476. ?One of the better ones, I guess, if you look at wins and losses. He?s got a bunch of wins. But just from what I?ve watched, really good team. A little different from what we?ve played throughout the season.?
Coastal Carolina employs a four-guard offense. That could be a good sign for Wyoming, which has players like Alan Herndon and Hayden Dalton that have length but are still quick enough to defend smaller players.
?We have a lot of length and size, and hopefully we should be able to get some scoring inside and have a higher scoring margin inside than them,? sophomore Jordan Naughton said. ?I mean, we can contend with any guards, I feel like. We have a lot of good guards on this team, so we can match up well. I feel like our bigs can have an advantage on the inside, too.?
The Cowboys and Chanticleers share one common opponent this year in Troy, a member of the Sun Belt. Wyoming beat Troy 72-66 on Dec. 19 in Laramie, while Coastal Carolina lost to Troy 87-78 on Feb. 18 in Troy, Alabama.
Last year, Nevada won the CBI against Morehead State in Eric Musselman?s first year as the Wolf Pack?s head coach. This season, Nevada won the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships, going on to lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to No. 5 seed Iowa State.
The Wolf Pack lost at Morehead State in the CBI championship series last year before winning two games at home. No team has ever lost two home games in the CBI championship series.
Mixed reviews
The Cowboys have varying thoughts on the idea of a best-of-three championship series.
?We?ll try it out,? Edwards said with a laugh. ?It?s a little different when you think about traditionally college basketball in the postseason play. It kind of has a little bit more of an NBA feel with the best of three. But I?m interested to be a part of it and see. I don?t know how far it will go when you talk NCAA Tournament, NIT or things like that, but I think this is great for the CBI.?
Said Naughton: ?I kind of don?t (like it), if I?m being honest. I wish we would just have one game. I feel like it would be a lot more exciting kind of deal. But since we?re here, we might as well handle business. We might as well make the best of our opportunity.
?And I feel like we definitely have a chance of winning on the road and here, definitely at home. At home, I feel like no one can beat us, so we?re excited to just come back here and hopefully make the Cowboys proud.?
Added Herndon: ?It?s just different. But in a sense, I can see why they?re implementing that in their system, because if you think about it the NBA has the best-of-seven series, so in college, I can see, why not have the best of three? ... Some coaches might say, ?If we had the chance to play that team again, maybe we would?ve won,? but now, you get this best-of-three series and you?ve really got to bring it and you?ve really got to show and play against that team.
?They?ll make adjustments, obviously, both teams from the first game to the second, so I think it?s good to show how the college team is going to develop. I think it?s good. It?s just kind of weird.?
Aka Gorski iffy
Junior guard Alexander Aka Gorski sat last game with an Achilles tendon injury, and Edwards said he is questionable for the first game of the championship series.
?I mean, I wouldn?t want to hurt it to affect the kid long-term,? Edwards said. ?If it?s something that he could fight through, then yeah, but if (trainer) Lance (Schuemann) says, ?Coach, it could potentially linger on, even into next year we?ll be dealing with the same problem,? then I?d rather rest (him).?
About Coastal Carolina
A chanticleer, by the way, is defined simply as a ?rooster? by Merriam-Webster. Coastal Carolina gained recent exposure when its baseball team won the 2016 College World Series. In 2017, Coastal Carolina?s football team will make its debut in 2017 at the FBS level, playing in the Sun Belt. This was the basketball team?s first year in the conference.
Coastal Carolina and Wyoming both appeared in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, where both teams lost in the second round, now the name for the Round of 64. The Chanticleers lost to No. 1 seed Wisconsin and the Cowboys fell to No. 5 seed Northern Iowa. Eastern Washington, which Wyoming beat in the first round of the CBI, was also in that NCAA Tournament, losing in the second round to No. 4 seed Georgetown.
Conway is located just northwest of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the airport into which Wyoming is flying.
Now, Wyoming is the last Mountain West team standing.
The Cowboys begin a best-of-three CBI championship series with Coastal Carolina at 5:30 p.m. Mountain Time Monday in Conway, South Carolina.
?I wouldn?t want to be in the championship game with nobody but these guys,? junior Lou Adams said. ?We?ve been at it all year. We?ve been through some ups and downs, but this championship will secure our year.?
The Cowboys? ups and downs came mainly in conference play. After a strong 10-3 non-conference season, Wyoming won consecutive games just once in Mountain West play, at times looking like a team capable of making a run but failing to do so come conference tournament time.
In the CBI, however, that run has emerged. Wyoming defeated Eastern Washington 91-81, Missouri-Kansas City 72-61 and Utah Valley 74-68 to advance to its first CBI championship in five tournament appearances. It?s Wyoming?s first three-game win streak this calendar year.
With Nevada out of the NCAA Tournament and Colorado State, Boise State and Fresno State eliminated in the NIT, the Cowboys are all that remains for the Mountain West. In fact, as of Monday, they?re one of just 14 Division-I teams in the country still playing, between the four postseason invitational tournaments.
The Cowboys (21-14) will have to begin this series on the road, however. Wyoming hasn?t played a road game since Feb. 28, and even that game was at nearby Colorado State. The second two games will be in Laramie, tipping off at 7 p.m. Mountain Time Wednesday and 5 p.m. Friday (if necessary).
The Chanticleers (19-17), coming off a sixth place finish in the Sun Belt, defeated Hampton, Loyola (Maryland) and Illinois-Chicago to advance to the championship.
Head coach Cliff Ellis has been with the Chanticleers, whom Wyoming has never played, since 2007. He was previously the head coach of Auburn, Clemson and South Alabama.
?Obviously, Coach Ellis, long time coach in this business,? Edwards said of Ellis, whose career coaching record is 810-476. ?One of the better ones, I guess, if you look at wins and losses. He?s got a bunch of wins. But just from what I?ve watched, really good team. A little different from what we?ve played throughout the season.?
Coastal Carolina employs a four-guard offense. That could be a good sign for Wyoming, which has players like Alan Herndon and Hayden Dalton that have length but are still quick enough to defend smaller players.
?We have a lot of length and size, and hopefully we should be able to get some scoring inside and have a higher scoring margin inside than them,? sophomore Jordan Naughton said. ?I mean, we can contend with any guards, I feel like. We have a lot of good guards on this team, so we can match up well. I feel like our bigs can have an advantage on the inside, too.?
The Cowboys and Chanticleers share one common opponent this year in Troy, a member of the Sun Belt. Wyoming beat Troy 72-66 on Dec. 19 in Laramie, while Coastal Carolina lost to Troy 87-78 on Feb. 18 in Troy, Alabama.
Last year, Nevada won the CBI against Morehead State in Eric Musselman?s first year as the Wolf Pack?s head coach. This season, Nevada won the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships, going on to lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to No. 5 seed Iowa State.
The Wolf Pack lost at Morehead State in the CBI championship series last year before winning two games at home. No team has ever lost two home games in the CBI championship series.
Mixed reviews
The Cowboys have varying thoughts on the idea of a best-of-three championship series.
?We?ll try it out,? Edwards said with a laugh. ?It?s a little different when you think about traditionally college basketball in the postseason play. It kind of has a little bit more of an NBA feel with the best of three. But I?m interested to be a part of it and see. I don?t know how far it will go when you talk NCAA Tournament, NIT or things like that, but I think this is great for the CBI.?
Said Naughton: ?I kind of don?t (like it), if I?m being honest. I wish we would just have one game. I feel like it would be a lot more exciting kind of deal. But since we?re here, we might as well handle business. We might as well make the best of our opportunity.
?And I feel like we definitely have a chance of winning on the road and here, definitely at home. At home, I feel like no one can beat us, so we?re excited to just come back here and hopefully make the Cowboys proud.?
Added Herndon: ?It?s just different. But in a sense, I can see why they?re implementing that in their system, because if you think about it the NBA has the best-of-seven series, so in college, I can see, why not have the best of three? ... Some coaches might say, ?If we had the chance to play that team again, maybe we would?ve won,? but now, you get this best-of-three series and you?ve really got to bring it and you?ve really got to show and play against that team.
?They?ll make adjustments, obviously, both teams from the first game to the second, so I think it?s good to show how the college team is going to develop. I think it?s good. It?s just kind of weird.?
Aka Gorski iffy
Junior guard Alexander Aka Gorski sat last game with an Achilles tendon injury, and Edwards said he is questionable for the first game of the championship series.
?I mean, I wouldn?t want to hurt it to affect the kid long-term,? Edwards said. ?If it?s something that he could fight through, then yeah, but if (trainer) Lance (Schuemann) says, ?Coach, it could potentially linger on, even into next year we?ll be dealing with the same problem,? then I?d rather rest (him).?
About Coastal Carolina
A chanticleer, by the way, is defined simply as a ?rooster? by Merriam-Webster. Coastal Carolina gained recent exposure when its baseball team won the 2016 College World Series. In 2017, Coastal Carolina?s football team will make its debut in 2017 at the FBS level, playing in the Sun Belt. This was the basketball team?s first year in the conference.
Coastal Carolina and Wyoming both appeared in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, where both teams lost in the second round, now the name for the Round of 64. The Chanticleers lost to No. 1 seed Wisconsin and the Cowboys fell to No. 5 seed Northern Iowa. Eastern Washington, which Wyoming beat in the first round of the CBI, was also in that NCAA Tournament, losing in the second round to No. 4 seed Georgetown.
Conway is located just northwest of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the airport into which Wyoming is flying.
