The Wyoming Cowboys overcame a 16-point first half deficit and took a lead in the second frame, but a shot for the win in the closing seconds fell short in a 73-70 loss to eighth-seeded UNLV on Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship inside the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

“We had two shots at the end of the game that were both good looks. I’m not going to sit up here talking about would’ve, should’ve, could’ve ... I’m going to tip my cap to UNLV. They came out with hair on fire in the first half, and that really kind of put us on our heels. We had a big hole to dig out of, which is a testament to our guys who have been resilient all year long,” UW coach Sundance Wicks said.

“They played an unbelievable second half to put us in position to go make the plays. We did that with a sophomore in Damarion Dennis and two freshmen in Gavin and Naz and a heck of a senior leader in Leland Walker.”

“We’re not going to shed any tears up here right now, because we’re going to try to keep playing postseason basketball. That’s our No. 1 goal is to try to play with this team for as long as we can,” Wicks said. “... I just want this experience to go on. There’s some teams where you just know they love playing, and these guys love playing the game of basketball.” 

The Cowboys shot 37% from the field in the contest and were held to only three makes from behind the arc. UNLV shot 44% from the field and were 15-of-26 from the field in the opening 20 minutes for 58%. The Pokes held a 43-21 advantage on the glass and grabbed 21 offensive rebounds.

Wyoming was led in scoring by forward Gavin Gores with 15 points, as he added five rebounds. He had 11 second half points. Damerion Dennis added 13 points and led the team with 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. Nasir (Naz) Meyer added 14 points and seven rebounds. Leland Walker added eight points and eight rebounds along with six assists.

Neither team could find an advantage early with the contest being a 6-6 game until the Runnin’ Rebels hit the first three of the game for a 9-6 lead with 16 minutes left in the first half. The Pokes would struggle finishing at the rim with UNLV pushing the lead to 15-10 with under 14 minutes left in the opening frame.

The Pokes would make 1-of-10 attempts, as teams traded dunks, but then a three from the Runnin’ Rebels made it a 25-15 game halfway through the first half. It ended up being a 10-0 run and a 30-15 lead.

The Runnin’ Rebels continued the pressure on both ends and used seven-straight makes for a 37-21 lead with under four minutes left in the first half. Uriyah Rojas would hit the first three of the game for the Pokes for a 13-point game, but UNLV would make it a 44-31 game at the half.

The Cowboys opened the second half on an 8-2 run to make it a 46-39 game with under 17 minutes remaining. Meyer would lead the charge getting to the line and the Pokes made it a 48-44 game with 14 minutes remaining.

Wyoming continued the pressure with UNLV going without a bucket for over three minutes. Dennis added a three pointer and made it a 49-48 game with 13:31 remaining in favor of UNLV. It was a 17-5 run for the Brown and Gold to open the second half.

The Pokes went on a scoring drought of over three minutes with UNLV making it a 66-48 game with 11 minutes remaining. Wyoming answered with a 10-0 run themselves over nearly four minutes and built a 58-55 lead.

UNLV battled and would take a 63-62 lead on a three-pointer with 3:43 remaining. The teams traded the lead for the next two minutes including a putback slam from Gores for a 68-68. Gores gave the Pokes a 70-68 lead, but Kimani Hamilton added an and-one play with 19 seconds remaining for a 71-70 lead for UNLV. The Pokes had a chance to take the lead, but the shot just came short in a 73-70 loss.

NIT INVITE

The Cowboys will head to Wichita State for the First Round of the National Invitation Tournament on Tuesday evening at 5 inside Koch Arena. It marks the first contest in the event for the Cowboys since the 2003 season and first postseason contest for the Pokes since the 2021-22 campaign. The contest will be televised on ESPNU.

Wyoming is one of five Mountain West teams that were invited to the 88th annual event.

Fans can listen to the contest, as well as follow stats on GoWyo.com. The game will be broadcast live on radio over the 26 affiliate stations of the Cowboy Sports Network with Keith Kelley on the call and Kevin McKinney on color.

The Shockers head into the contest with a 22-11 overall record and fell in the American Championship game to South Florida 70-55 on Sunday afternoon and finished second in the league and had only one loss since mid-February. Wichita State scores 77.6 points per game and allows 70.4 points per night. WSU shoots 44.2% from the field and holds opponents to 42.1%. An excellent rebounding team, the Shockers grab 41 per game.

Wyoming trails the all-time series against the Shockers 10-3 in a series that dates back to 1948. It marks the first postseason meeting between the two schools.

The two teams opened the season against each other in four-straight seasons from 1960 to 1963.

The winner of Tuesday’s contest will head to the Round of 16 against either Oklahoma State or Davidson with date, site and time to be determined.