Wyoming Controls the Paint, Powers Past Bobcats in Bozeman

Tuesday, December 23

7:05 pm

Montana State University

3-9

Wyoming

11-2

Team	1	2	F
Wyoming	27	34	61
Montana State	22	29	51

Marcus Colbert with a floater for two of his 20 points

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

Wyoming Controls the Paint, Powers Past Bobcats in Bozeman

12/23/2014 10:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Marcus Colbert's strong effort not enough

By: Bill Lamberty

In a battle of inside vs. outside, inside won.

Larry Nance Jr. scored 31 points and Derek Cooke Jr. added 13 points with 11 boards, leading Wyoming to a 61-51 win over Montana State in Worthington Arena on Tuesday. Marcus Colbert scored 20 points and dished out six assists for the Cats.

"We changed defenses three times on Nance," said MSU coach Brian Fish, "and when we switched defenses we didn't cover inside and he got some easy baskets. It comes down to communication, and we've got to get in the gym when we get back and make progress on that."

Nance dominated throughout, scoring 12 of his points from the free throw line. Cooke also blocked two shots, and the two Cowboy big men combined to shoot 15-for-22 from the floor.

While the Cowboys dominated the paint and shot 18 more free throws than the Bobcats, MSU stayed close and had a chance coming down the stretch. With just over two minutes to play, the Bobcats possessed the ball trailing by four. Wyoming's Josh Adams stole a pass from Terrell Brown and raced to the other end for a layup to stretch the Cowboys' lead to 57-51 and essentially end the game. UW converted a pair of free throws and a layup down the stretch for the final margin.

The final score was the first double-digit lead of the game. For the first 38 minutes, the teams battled on nearly even footing. Wyoming stretched its lead to nin with 6:21 to play, but two free throws, a three-pointer, and two more charity tosses by Colbert pulled the Bobcats close. Michael Dison drained a three-pointer from the top of the key to pull Montana State to within two points, 53-51, with 2:39 to play. Those were MSU's final points.

"I'm really happy with how Marcus played," Fish said. "He had a bad game the other night in Portland, and didn't start all that well tonight. But he stood in there and fought it, and got going. Games like this show me more than when a guy just shows up and makes a bunch of shots. Marcus is certainly giving us a chance to win games, we just need other guys to show up consistently on the offensive end."

Montana State falls to 3-9 with the loss, while Wyoming raises its record to 11-2. Each team's next chance to win a game will come in its conference opener, Wyoming at home against UNLV on New Year's Eve and the Bobcats on New Year's Day at 1 pm against North Dakota.