Muojeke done for the year

Wyoming will be without their leading scorer sophomore Afam Muojeke for the remainder of this season the University of Wyoming announced this morning. Muojeke injured his left knee on Wednesday nights game against the BYU Cougars. This is the same knee he injured earlier this year that caused him to miss three games, he also redshirted his freshman year after dislocating the knee cap in his left knee.

So with three injuries in three years has the left knee become a chronic injury for Muojeke? A weakened joint that will give out more and more often? Let's hope not for his and the team's sake.

Muojeke, a native of Jamaica, Queens, N.Y., was averaging 17.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.7 steals a game entering the BYU game. He ranked second in the Mountain West Conference in scoring and fourth in steals. He had scored 15 or more points in 13 of 15 games prior to the injury.

Obviously this is a huge blow for the team. But could be a blessing in disguise as this is a very young Cowboys team and a lot of players weren't seeing muching playing time recently. Desmar Jackson, A.J. Davis and Daylen Harrison should all see some more court time.

Hopefully Muojeke will heal quickly and be able to practice next Fall when the season starts.

Afam Muojeke out. But for how long?

Afam Muojeke only played eight minutes last night before running into BYU's Taylor Haws and injuring his knee. This is the same knee Muojeke injured earlier in the season that caused to miss several games with a bruised patellar tendon.

After the injury Muojeke was able to limp off the floor under his own power but when he returned in the second half it was with crutches.

An MRI will be done today to determine the extent of the damage and how long Muojeke could be out.

Losing their leading scorer will be quite a loss for the Pokes. The good news is that Wyoming is off until the 27th when they host Utah. If Muojeke is out for a longer period of time Ryan Dermody and A.J. Davis stand to see much more playing time.

Cowboys compete but can't outlast Vols

Muojeke gets stuffed


For 15 minutes it looked as if the Wyoming Cowboys were on their way to a stunning upset over the #8 Tennessee Volunteers. Wyoming started with a 7-0 lead before Tennessee came back to tie the game, the Cowboys kept fighting and surged to a 35-25 with 5:30 remaining in the first half. The Vols clawed their way back and took a 42-41 lead at halftime.

Coach Bruce Pearl gave his team one heck of a pep talk as they came storming out of the gates to start the second half. They turned the pressure up on defense and outscored Wyoming 35-17 in the second half en route to a 77-58 victory. Tennessee improved to 8-1 on the season while Wyoming drops back to .500 and now sits at 5-5.

The Cowboys are typically a terrible three point shooting team but they actually had some success early on from long range. Afam Muojeke and Ryan Dermody both hit two treys early and they 4 for 7 early on. That early success probably hurt the Pokes as they continued to shoot from long range and missed their last 14 attempts finishing 4 for 21 for the game.

Ball control was issue all night for Wyoming with 16 turnovers in the first half and 29 for the game. Afam Muojeke just needed three more rebounds for a triple double: 15 points 7 rebounds and 10 turnovers. Muojeke shot 4 for 15 from the field and was 2 for 11 on three pointers.

Scotty Hopson was a spark plug in the second half for the Vols and led the team with 14 points. Tyler Smith finished with 10 points and 4 assists. Tennessee shot 47% from the field but knocked down only 4 of 20 three pointers.

While this does go down as a loss this was mostly a great experience for a young Cowboy team. Competing against a top 10 team on their own court and leading them for nearly the entire first half hopefully boosted the confidence of some players. Sure the second half was pretty ugly but the Cowboys can compete and should hopefully improve their game as the conference schedule starts up soon.

The Vols shutdown the inside game for the Cowboys in the second half and forced them to shoot from outside. Three point shooting will never be a strength for the Pokes this season but developing a mid range game would certaintly help. The Pokes made 20 of 25 free throws during the game with 17 attempts coming in the first half. They continue to lead the nation in free throws made with 254. When Tennessee stopped Wyoming from getting inside they also stopped the Pokes from getting to the free throw line. Instead the Cowboys settled for off-balance jumpers and 24 foot three pointers.


AWARDS

Cowboy Joe: A.J. Davis put up nine seven rebounds and was hustling all game long. Really attacked the basket in the first half. Only had two turnovers.

Cowboy Low: Afam Muojeke - Yes, he led the team in scoring with 15 but kept shooting 3 pointers from five feet behind the line and had 10 turnovers. Really tried to do too much himself and took tons of bad shots.

Cowboy Foe: Scotty Hopson blew up in the second half and made tons of athletic plays on both sides of the court.

Cowboys knock off Bears

The Wyoming Cowboys made the most of their trip up to Casper for BlueCross BlueShield of Wyoming Shootout. The Cowboys improved to 5-4 with a tough 76-70 victory over Northern Colorado tonight.

Leading scorer Afam Muojeke returned for the Cowboys after missing the last two weeks with a knee injury. His 15 points led the Cowboys but was largely innefective for most game shooting just 2 for 11 from the field. With the game on the line the Pokes but ball in Muojeke's hands and Northern Colorado kept putting him on the line. Eight free throws in the final minute from Muojeke secured the victory.

Adam Waddell and Jaydee Luster had several big plays in the second half to keep the Pokes ahead. Luster had several steals that led to Cowboy scores. Luster finished with 5 points 7 rebounds and 3 assists and 3 steals. Despite being in foul trouble most of the game Waddel finished with 13 points and a team high 9 rebounds in just 20 minutes. Clutch boards and free throws from Waddell kept the Bears from coming back.

Northern 8-2 started the game with an 8-0 run but couldn't hold on as Wyoming held a 38-25 halftime lead. Devon Beitzel got hot in the second half scoring 21 of his 25 points including five 3's to lead the Bears.

Big contributions from the bench tonight as the Pokes had 39 points from the non starters. Desmar Jackson had 8 of his 11 points in the first half.

Wyoming has now won three in a row after dropping the three games prior.
Next up the Cowboys travel to Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday to take on the #9 ranked Tennessee Volunteers.

AWARDS

Cowboy Joe: Waddell had two 3 point plays and played smart despite being in foul trouble to keep the Cowboys ahead. 13 points/11 rebounds.

Cowboy Low: Djibril Thiam was fairly innefective for most of the game with 5 points and 3 rebounds in 26 minutes. Despite shooting making 89% of his ft's on year season, finished only 1 of 4 tonight.

Cowboy Foe: Devon Beitzel scored 21 points in the second half alone. Finished with 25 for the game along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

Cowboys host Loyola Marymount tonight

The Wyoming Cowboys (3-4) host the Loyola Marymount Lions (3-5) tonight at 7pm MST. The Pokes should well rested after having five days off after playing four games in five days.

The Cowboys have struggled of offense without F Afam Muojeke who has been out with a knee injury. Muojeke is likely to miss tonight's game as well. G A.J. Davis has stepped up nicely for the Pokes putting up 20, 18 and 19 points in three of the last four games.

Loyola is led by 6-7 sophomore Drew Vinney and his 18.6 points a game. The Oregon transfer has been shooting lights out so far this season and is hitting 54% of his 3pt shots. 6-10 Edgar Garibay pulls down over 6 rebounds a game in 23 minutes but has struggled with foul trouble.

The Lions and Cowboys have both faced Boise State this season. The Cowboys won 87-61 while the Lions lost 87-90 in their season opener.

Men's Hoops: Season Preview

Pictured: Jaydee Luster (front) and Boubacar Syalla (back)


Head Coach Heath Schroyer has certaintly done a lot with the team since taking over two years ago. Last season the Cowboys finished 19-14 (7-9 MWC) and earned a post berth by playing in the CBI tournament.

The Cowboys certainly have plenty of new faces to fill in for all the talent that graduated last season. Gone is Brandon Ewing the leading scorer in the Mountain West last year as well Sean Ogirri and Tyler Johnson the #2 and #4 scorers last year for the Cowboys respectively.

While the Cowboys could spend their time worrying about who is gone instead they are excited about who is new to town and how they can impact the team. This is a young team that has only one senior and two juniors returning. Junior Djibril Thiam is only returning upperclassmen who had an impact on the court last season (5.2 points, 5.1 rebounds).

Taking a look at the Sophomore class will tell you nearly everything you need to know about the Cowboys this year:

F Afam Muojeke - The Cowboys returning scorer (13.8) from last year and Mountain West Freshman of the Year. Afam will be counted on to continue where he left off last year. At 6-7 210 he has nice size and will be startin at SF for the Cowboys.

G Jaydee Luster - Luster transferred from New Mexico State and had to sit out last year according to NCAA regulations. Expect him to be the catalyst for the Cowboy offense all season long. He is a pass first point guard that has solid ball control. Was voted team captain by his teammates.

C Boubacar Syalla - Transferred from Auburn last year. Listed at 7-2 235 he is the tallest player to ever play for the Cowboys. Didn't do much in his prep career at StoneRidge Prep (CA). It will be interesting to see if he can actually play or just spend most of his time just taking up space in the lane.

G Thomas Manzano - A 6-4 200lb SG that transferred from a JC (Garden City) last year. Manzano has a nice scoring touch and will help out on the perimeter. Will be counted on to help provide some offensive punch this season.

C Adam Waddell - Would be your starting center this year Waddell injured his knee during the preseason and will be out for two to four weeks. At 6-10 he will spent most of his time at center unless the Cowboys go with a large lineup, which means he could move to the 4 with Syalla playing the 5.

Schedule: The Cowboys have a fairly pedestrian non-conference schedule this year. Some highlights would be:

11/21 - Boise St
11/29 - Pepperdine
12/15 - @ Tennessee
12/23 - @ Northern Iowa

The Cowboys start their Mountain West schedule on January 6th at home against Colorado State.

Outlook: The Cowboys are a young and athletic team will wear out some teams with their ability to run. This energy combined with the soft schedule will help them win a few more games then they probably should. While they probably won't see the post season again this season the Mountain West is wide open and the Cowboys could finish anywhere between 4th and 8th.