The Wyoming Cowboys turned up the heat to roll past Sacramento State 93-70 on Saturday in Laramie.
Wyoming (9-1) trailed 37-36 at halftime, but opened things up with an 18-4 run and never looked back.
The Cowboys’ pressure defense early in the second half forced two timeouts by Sacramento State coach Brian Katz in the first four minutes. The Hornets (1-9) never really recovered.
“In the second half, Wyoming really came out and upped the defensive pressure, which led to turnovers and easy baskets,” Katz said.
Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said the second half was the best 20 minutes of basketball his team has played this season.
“We chart a lot of things on the bench and one thing that we chart is deflections,” Schroyer said. “We had 15 deflections in the second half, which is a high for us. I thought we really shared the ball; we only had three turnovers in the second half. ”
Sean Ogirri scored 25 points for the Cowboys, including 16 in the second half. Ogirri had his second straight strong game shooting from the outside, as he hit 7-of-13 3-pointers.
Brandon Ewing and Afam Muojeke scored 20 points each. Ewing also added a career-high 11 assists, along with four steals.
San Jose State 89, Northern Colorado 78
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Tim Pierce scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Spartans (4-3).
Washington transfer Adrian Oliver scored 27 points in his Spartans’ debut, just becoming eligible before San Jose State played its first game in 12 days.
Devon Beitzel scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Bears (3-7), who fell to 1-5 on the road. Chris Kaba added 12 points and Jabril Banks and John Peña each had 11 for Northern Colorado, which is in the midst of playing five games in seven days in three western states (Colorado, California, Nevada).
Beitzel hit his first seven shots, two from long range, and the Bears made 14 of their first 18 attempts. Beitzel finished 12-of-14 from the floor.
WOMEN
Colorado 71, UMKC 49
BOULDER — Bianca Smith made 6-of-8 3-pointers and scored 21 points as the Buffaloes (4-4) ran away from the Kangaroos (4-7) in the second half.
Smith had nine points in a 21-6 second-half run that turned a 33-29 UMKC lead into a 50-39 CU advantage. Forward Kara Richards, who finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, had eight points in the run. Brittany Spears added 19 points for the Buffs.
Saint Louis 74, Wyoming 59
LARAMIE — The Billikens (4-4) went on an early 12-0 run and kept the Cowgirls (6-4) at bay the rest of the game.
Wyoming shot only 37 percent. Saint Louis wasn’t much better at 40 percent, but the Billikens made 23-of-27 free throws. Elisabeth Dissen led Wyoming with 15 points.
TOP 25 MEN
No. 1 North Carolina 85, Valparaiso 63: Tyler Hansbrough scored 25 points to help the Tar Heels overcome a poor start in Chicago, sparking runs at the end of the first half and beginning of the second. North Carolina (11-0) won by double figures for the 11th straight game, tying a school record also held by the 1992-93 team that won the national championship.
No. 2 Connecticut 88, No. 8 Gonzaga 83 (OT): A.J. Price scored a season-high 24 points — including the 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime — as the Huskies (10-0) defeated the Bulldogs (8-2) in Seattle.
No. 4 Oklahoma 81, Va. Commonwealth 70: The host Sooners got a win for coach Jeff Capel against the team that gave him his coaching start.
No. 19 Michigan State 67, No. 5 Texas 63: Durrell Summers hit a 3-pointer with 18.6 seconds left, and the Spartans smothered Texas (9-2) star guard A.J. Abrams to pull out an upset in Houston.
No. 6 Duke 82, No. 7 Xavier 64: Jon Scheyer matched his season high with 23 points as the Blue Devils (10-1) took a 31-point halftime lead in East Rutherford, N.J.
Minnesota 70, No. 9 Louisville 64: Al Nolen scored 18 points, 13 from the free-throw line, and the Golden Gophers (10-0) improved on their best start in more than three decades with the victory in Glendale, Ariz.
No. 11 Syracuse 72, No. 23 Memphis 65: Jonny Flynn had 24 points and six assists for the visiting Orange.
No. 12 Notre Dame 88, Delaware State 50: Luke Harangody was 7-of-8 from the floor for 16 points in the first half to lead the Irish to a 39-21 lead.
No. 13 Purdue 76, No. 22 Davidson 58: Robbie Hummel had 18 points and 14 rebounds, and the Boilermakers (9-2) rolled to a 21-0 lead in the Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis.
No. 14 UCLA 76, Mercer 59: Host UCLA never trailed in its fourth straight victory.
No. 15 Georgetown 69, Mount St. Mary’s, Md. 58: Chris Wright scored 19 points, including seven during a decisive second-half run for the host Hoyas (8-1).
No. 16 Tennessee 79, Belmont 77: Bobby Maze hit a key 3-pointer for the host Volunteers (8-2).
No. 17 Ohio St. 71, Iona 53: Evan Turner had 21 points and ignited a second-half rally with nine points for the host Buckeyes (8-0).
No. 20 Arizona St. 76, BYU 75: Referees overturned a basket by BYU’s Charles Abouo at the buzzer, preserving the Sun Devils’ (9-1) come-from-behind home victory over the previously unbeaten Cougars (10-1).
No. 21 Baylor 79, Texas Arlington 76: Curtis Jerrells scored 29 points and made 16-of-17 free-throw attempts to help the Bears survive at home.
TOP 25 WOMEN
No. 2 North Carolina 68, Illinois 59: Italee Lucas scored 10 of her 19 points in a second-half run in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
No. 7 Baylor 81, Oregon 71: The visiting Lady Bears rallied from a halftime deficit.
No. 8 Duke 86, Siena 41: The Blue Devils forced 33 turnovers in Los Angeles.
No. 13 Notre Dame 89, Loyola of Chicago 45: The host Irish used an early 29-7 run to pull away.
No. 22 Oklahoma State 88, UNLV 73: The visiting Cowgirls went 12-0 run late for a come-from-behind win.
No. 23 Kansas St. 58, Indiana St. 43: Visiting coach Deb Patterson got her 250th career victory.
No. 25 Georgia Tech 63, Texas-Arlington 56: Jacqua Williams scored a career-high 20 points. The Associated Press
