Wyoming Struggles Offensively In Loss

Sophomore forward Larry Nance Jr. scored 10 points and added nine rebounds, but the University of Wyoming men's basketball team dropped a 49-36 game at Fresno State on Wednesday night in the Save Mart Center.

The Pokes (14-2, 1-2 MW) led midway through the first half, but struggled on the offensive end the rest of the contest, as the Bulldogs (7-9, 1-2 MW) pulled away for the win.

"Complements to coach [Rodney] Terry and their guys they were well coached and played hard all game tonight," UW head coach Larry Shyatt said. "They did a great job of defending us. We seemed to have a little hurry in our game tonight because we were down all game. I thought we had great opportunities in the second half, but we missed 13 free throws and you just cannot do that."

Nance hit double figures for the ninth time this season and added an assist and block. Sophomore guard Riley Grabau scored 10 points for his fourth career game in double figures, and third consecutive, while senior forward Leonard Washington added six and a team-high 10 rebounds.

Wyoming struggled offensively, shooting 24 percent (12-of-50), 18 percent (5-of-27) beyond the arc and 35 percent (7-of-20) at the free throw line, while Fresno State hit 51 percent (17-of-33), but no threes (0-of-6).

The Cowboys have held their last two opponents to just one three. The Bulldogs earned a 33-29 advantage in rebounds, 10-4 in assists and 5-1 in blocks.

The game started well for the Pokes, as freshman guard Josh Adams opened the scoring with a three. Grabau added one as well, Adams splashed another and Nance capped the run with a jumper to put Wyoming up 11-5 at the 14:14 mark.

Nance added a free throw at the 12:52 mark to make it 12-7 UW, but the Cowboys would make just two more buckets the rest of the half. Fresno State ended the half on a 19-4 run to go into halftime up 26-16.

Adams scored six points on two threes in the first half, while Nance added five points and four rebounds.

Wyoming shot just 27 percent (6-of-22) from the field and 25 percent (3-of-12) beyond the arc in the first half, compared to 64 percent (11-of-17) from the field for the Bulldogs.

FSU failed to make a three (0-of-4) in the first half, but outrebounded the Pokes 14-8 and had an 8-1 advantage in assists.

The Poke offense continued to struggle in the second half, as Wyoming made just two buckets and one free throw in the first 11 minutes.

Fresno State took advantage of the opportunity to stretch the lead to 20 at 41-21 with 8:59 to go.

Washington would start a small UW spurt with a layup and the Cowboys cut the lead to 12 at 47-35, but it wasn't enough, as the Bulldogs stayed in control down the stretch.

Wyoming returns to the Arena-Auditorium to host No. 15/14 San Diego State on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. MT.

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