Laramie – As a kid growing up in Casper, Cowboys freshman guard Eric Platt said it was always his dream to play in the Border War.
With Colorado State accounting for, but not necessarily stopping, Wyoming’s proven guns Brandon Ewing and Brad Jones in the backcourt and vastly improved center Daaron Brown, Platt came off the bench undetected. He gave Wyoming its first two leads midway through the second half with back-to-back uncontested 3-pointers, and came up with a critical steal late to preserve the 75-70 Cowboys win.
“I got off to a slow start but the coaches told me to keep shooting,” said Platt, who was 2-for-7 from the field.
CSU coach Dale Layer said, “We knew he was a good shooter but we lost him.”
The loss stopped CSU’s two-game winning streak, dropping the Rams (14-5, 4-3) out of second place in the Mountain West Conference. Wyoming (12-8, 3-3) ended a three-game losing streak and moved up to fifth place, just behind CSU.
A lack of urgency by both teams in the first half heated up in the second in front of 7,558 at the Arena-Auditorium when the referees conferred at length over near fisticuffs between the rivals. With CSU clinging to a 45-42 lead with 10:28 left, a personal foul was called on CSU guard Cory Lewis and a double technical on Lewis and Wyoming’s Joseph Taylor.
Taylor missed a foul shot. Jason Smith missed the front of a one-and-one on the other end and then Wyoming’s Ike Okoye went to the line and made two to get within a point.
Then Platt scored his six points around a Smith layup for a 50-48 lead. Smith, who turned in a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards, hit a short jumper to tie.
Ewing put the Cowboys ahead for good with 7:08 left. The Rams kept hanging around within three to five points until Platt punched the ball away on the CSU end, and fed Ewing for a 67-60 lead with 57 seconds remaining.
Ewing, the MWC scoring leader, struggled from the floor on a 4-for-14 night, but hit 9-of-10 free throws and had 17 points while Jones led all scorers with 25 points.
Wyoming took control of the game in the first half and led 29-18 with 5:05 left. Although Smith avoided his usual early foul trouble, he was poked in the eye and had some vision problems. The Rams clawed back within three points at halftime and Lewis provided the biggest lead at 45-38 before Wyoming started its comeback.
“There isn’t a bad team in this league,” Wyoming coach Steve McClain said. “That’s why a lot of us have two or three losses and we’re all still in the race.”
Footnotes: CSU’s Stuart Creason blocked seven shots, giving him 18 in the past three games. Rams guard Stephan Gilling had his shooting hand wrapped up after jamming his fingers. Brown left the game with a high ankle sprain.
COLORADO STATE (14-5, 4-3 MWC)
Jas. Smith 9-16 2-3 20, Creason 3-7 0-1 6, Lewis 5-11 1-2 11, Denson 3-11 3-4 11, Gilling 3-7 0-0 8, Kilby 2-2 0-0 4, T. Smith 1-6 2-4 4, Surratt 0-1 0-0 0, F. Robinson 0-2 6-6 6. Totals 26-63 14-20 70.
WYOMING (12-8, 3-3)
Spencer 1-2 2-2 4, Taylor 0-0 2-3 2, Brown 7-13 1-2 15, Jones 8-19 8-9 25, Ewing 4-14 9-10 17, Okoye 1-2 2-2 4, Platt 2-7 0-2 6, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Songondo 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 24-60 24-30 75.
Halftime – Wyoming 31-28. 3-point goals – Colorado St. 4-12 (Gilling 2-3, Denson 2-6, Surratt 0-1, Lewis 0-2), Wyoming 3-12 (Platt 2-4, Jones 1-4, Ewing 0-4). Fouled out – Lewis. Rebounds – Colorado St. 41 (Jas. Smith 10), Wyoming 40 (Brown 9). Assists – Colorado St. 8 (Denson, Lewis 3), Wyoming 10 (Jones 4). Total fouls – Colorado St. 27, Wyoming 20. A – 7,558.
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303- 954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
