The Mountain West Conference office confirmed Wednesday that Brandon Ewing and Brad Jones of Wyoming and New Mexico’s Jamaal Smith are suspended for at least their next scheduled games as a result of a fight Tuesday night in Albuquerque.
Javan Hedlund, MWC assistant commissioner, said the official report from the game indicated the three were ejected for fighting. Hedlund added that NCAA rule 10, Section 19, Article 2, stipulates a player ejected for fighting is suspended for the next game on the schedule.
Wyoming plays Saturday at Air Force, and New Mexico is at Colorado State on Saturday. Hedlund indicated the conference has until Friday to determine whether additional penalties or players may be involved.
While officials at both universities declined comment, Wyoming athletic director Tom Burman told wire services that his office and conference officials hoped to have reviewed all of the information by today.
The loss of Ewing, the conference’s leading scorer at 19.7 points per game, and Jones, fourth at 16.7, especially is damaging to the Cowboys as they prepare to play No. 17 Air Force. Ewing and Jones account for 48 percent of Wyoming’s scoring.
Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik said, “We can’t be worried about anything but ourselves.”
The Falcons (19-3) are 2-2 in their past four conference games.
The fight in the Wyoming-New Mexico game broke out with 1:10 remaining, and the game was halted for 15 minutes. New Mexico won 91-83.
Wyoming coach Steve McClain was quoted after the game as saying, “Real class place this is.”
Falcons-Bears canceled
Last month’s game between Air Force and Northern Colorado, which was postponed by a blizzard, has been canceled. But UNC announced it will host Air Force in a future season.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
