Post game quotes from UW head coach Larry Shyatt and Denver University head man Joe Scott following the Cowboys 71-61 victory Tuesday night from Pioneers at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie. Shyatt talks about why he thinks this will turnout to be a good win for the Pokes.

UW Head Coach Larry Shyatt's quotes

"It was a really physical game -- toughness, competiveness, style of play game. I have the utmost respect for Coach Joe Scott) and his program. I think this game is going to be a very a strong win for us when we look back at the end of the season. I see this as one of the best ball clubs we've played.

"They (Denver) made a couple runs, and they would get it to three or four but our guys were very resilient.

"I've said this all year, it's so noticeable to me when we make foul shots -- again we go 19 for 21 for 90 percent, and we lead the league. It would be so noticeable to others if we were missing those foul shots, and we would have three, possibly four more, losses this season already. Larry Nance for example, went 11 for 11. Derrious Gilmore went four for four, Luke Martinez -- two for two. Those are important and without those you put ourself in a position where you're putting so much pressure on your defense.

"Both teams were playing a little better than they do usually on offense. I focused at halftime) on us getting down and dirty -- getting some stops and removing their three-ball as much as we could from the game. But if you look at the stats, both teams in the second half were equally as hot, so thank goodnees we were able to capitalize on those free throws and Luke Martinez) and Derrious (Gilmore) were able to knock down those threes.

"The last thing I see on the stat sheet, is Denver was able to throw up only six threes in the second half. This is a team that takes nearly half their shot attempts from three and averages about 25 three attempts per game. I knew we couldn't take away their athleticsm, their layups and their threes, but I thought our guys did a pretty good job of covering them from the arc.

"Everybody did their job tonight. It was good to see (Riley) Grabau back on the floor. I told the team I was disappointed I couldn't get (Austin) Haldorson, and Jason (McManamen) and (Nathan) Sobey more minutes, but it was a physical game. It was a slow game, I didn't see fatigue playing a factor in the game."

"They (UC-Santa Barbara) left after we won at their place earlier this season and went up to Santa Clara, against a very good team, and beat them. In the locker room tonight, I reminded the guys that last year we beat a team by 30 points in Utah Valley, and when we played the rubber match three weeks later Leonard (Washington) had to hit a shot with five seconds to go to get the win. I want them to be aware, 'You don't know what you don't know', and I wanted them to know before we go to bed tonight that we're going to have to come with our hard hats on Friday, and we've got to come to play defense. I'm hoping for a great crowd in the Double A Friday night."

"I thought he gave us great minutes. When he came out of the game, I didn't like the look on his face, but he assured me later that he is fine and just tweeked his knee a little. After Friday, he will get five days, and he's not the only one who needs some rest -- our whole team does."


Denver Head Coach Joe Scott Quotes

"Our defense sort of let our offense down tonight. They were playing pretty good defense, then I thought tonight that at key times, our defense did a good enough job to get us back in the game. But at key times, when we cut it [Wyoming's lead] to two or cut it to four, it looked to me like it did the first four minutes of the game, when they [Wyoming] were off to an 8-0 run.

"[Luke] Martinez hit some big shots. The key is, you can't let let him make his threes. When he makes his threes you know he'll be playing better offensively. When the game got close in the second half, it sort of reverted back to how it was in the first five minutes of the game.

"For us to be successful, we had to make sure that [Gilmore and Martinez] did not hit critical threes, so you have to give them credit for making those shots."

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