Wyoming Bounce Back On Monday To Split Series With Air Force

Wyoming Bounce Back On Monday To Split Series With Air Force

Air Force

Wyoming Bounce Back On Monday To Split Series With Air Force

By January 19, 2021 3:37 pm

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Final Score: Wyoming 77,  Air Force 58

Teams split series and prep for big tests at home on Friday when conference play resumes. 

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Both teams walk away with a win in the series with Wyoming resurgence Monday night. 

Game two of the conference series between the Wyoming Cowboys and Air Force Falcons on Monday night was one to watch.

As both programs needed victories in this series to maintain their position in the Mountain West standings. While also hoping make their ascent to avoid a lapse by current winless conference mates New Mexico and San Jose State.

Both games yielded 1-1 additions to each team’s records, but both games yielded two very different results.

Game one played on Saturday night was a lot closer, with the Falcons ultimately edging out the Cowboys 72-69. That win was truly a team effort on the part of Air Force. As four players logged double-digits on Saturday, with senior sharpshooter Christopher Joyce leading the way with a game-high 21 points on 8-10 made field goals (4 threes by the way).

But, second time around coach Linder had his guys ready by walking away with a much needed 19-point win yesterday with plenty of contributors to thank.

Five separate Cowboys were able to log double-digits in the scoring column on Monday night, but as a team also handled the ball well (15 assists:11 turnovers) and utilized hot hands to log their best 3-point shooting performance since 2016.

Wyoming as a whole shot 50% from three with 16-32 made attempts matching a team-high from way back in 2016 against Northern Iowa. Compare that to the Falcons 8.3% on 1-12 made 3-point field goal attempts and that second margin of victory begins to become a little clearer.

Leading the charge offensively for Wyoming was freshman guard Xavier DuSell, who knocked down 5-9 of his attempts from deep.

For the home team it was sophomore post, Nikc Jackson who himself had a career night for Air Force and managed to showcase his bounce.

Player Spotlight: 

Air Force: Nikc Jackson-19 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 assists & 1 flush

Jackson has been the inexperienced anchor down low for coach Scott this season. Logging twelve starts in twelve appearances for this squad in the paint so far, after just ten appearances all of last season behind two Falcon greats.

It was nice to see Jackson have this kind of impact for his team, everyone knows they could use all the offensive output they can get out of their very small rotation. I can’t wait to see an encore performance from the big man.

Wyoming: Xavier Dusell-19 points, 1 assist &1 rebound, while also going 5-9 from deep

DuSell is a part of a stellar incoming recruiting class in Jeff Linder’s first year in charge in Laramie. The 6-4 guard was committed to Linder back at Northern Colorado alongside the current leading scorer of the Cowboys, Marcus Williams.

While DuSell only has 1 start on the season, his impact off the bench can’t be spoken to enough. Monday’s 19 points is a season high for the true freshman, but a great addition to an already promising Mountain West career.

With the split, both squads return to the books and the practice courts in a similar position to how they entered. Both still fighting for mid-table positions but both well a head of current basement dwellers the Lobos and Spartans. As other mid-table teams drop games like Fresno State did to fourth-place Nevada this week, both teams need to shift into a higher gear to take advantage.

Mountain West Standings After the series:

T-1) Boise State 12-1 (8-0)

T-1) Utah State 11-3 (8-0)

3) Colorado State 10-2 (7-1)

4) Nevada 10-5 (5-3)

5) San Diego State 9-4 (3-3)

5) UNLV 4-6 (2-2)

7) Fresno State 5-5 (3-5)

8) Wyoming 8-5 (2-4)

9) Air Force 4-8 (2-6)

10) New Mexico 4-8 (0-8)

10) San Jose State 2-10 (0-8)

Up Next:

Air Force:

The Falcons get to enjoy another conference series at home this week as they welcome San Diego State. The Aztecs were swept by Utah State this past week and lost senior forward Matt Mitchell in the process to injury.

Brian Dutcher and his squad are hungry for a win and have more than enough firepower to challenge the Falcons, but Air Force tends to bode well against the Aztecs at home (2-6 in last 8 meetings, both wins at home). So get a quick nap in on Friday folks, because the Falcons host the Aztecs on FS1 at 9:00 PM MT/8:00 PM PT.

Wyoming:

The Cowboys get to head back home this week to play host to 4th place Nevada beginning on Friday. Coach Alford and his squad just swept Fresno State at home and have just the right amount of momentum to keep steady for a top-half conference finish.

This makes Friday’s 6:00 PM MT matchup televised on Stadium even that much more exciting.

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