LARAMIE — It was a miss that gave Wyoming a make.
Wyoming took the 210th edition of the Border War 83-74, edging surging Colorado State on a momentum swing from a first-year player.
With less than two minutes left, Cowboys forward Tyson Johnson missed on a one-and-one opportunity. Teammate Djibril Thiam grabbed the rebound and added a layup to stretch a two-possession Wyoming lead to three.
“There is no moral victory here,” Colorado State coach Tim Miles said.
“We got it down to a couple, but we just made some bad decisions and took a bad shot about three different times. That’s not good enough to win.”
A 23-6 Wyoming run that spanned 10 minutes in the first half left Colorado State (7-13, 2-4 Mountain West) behind 32-21, and the Cowboys led 45-31 at halftime.
Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said an unexpected switch to zone defense left the Cowboys scrambling in the second half.
“It has been six weeks since we have seen much zone defense,” Schroyer said, “and it took us several minutes to adjust to it.”
While Wyoming (13-6, 2-3 MWC) was adjusting, the Rams put together a 15-7 run to come within 58-56.
Thiam’s momentum-changing layup, followed by a windmill block and an eight-for-10 free-throw effort by the Cowboys, capped off their win.
The game was officiated by a two-man team late, after Denver-based official Lonnie Dixon tripped and injured his ankle.
Jesse Carr led the Rams for the second straight game with 21 points. CSU was again without its leading scorer, guard Marcus Walker, and Harvey Perry, both of whom are out for academic reasons.
Wyoming, which remains undefeated in the Arena-Auditorium, was led in scoring by freshman Afam Muojeke with 25 points, followed by Johnson with 19 and Ewing with 18.
Wyoming hosts its second Colorado opponent on Tuesday when Air Force comes to Laramie, and the Rams get back to work Wednesday at New Mexico.
COLORADO STATE (7-13, 2-4 MWC)
McFarland 3-8 0-0 8, Ogide 5-7 3-4 13, Carr 8-15 2-3 21, Nigon 2-5 1-1 5, Gardner 2-10 0-0 4, Franklin 7-10 3-6 17, Dunn 2-2 0-0 6, Bocar Ba 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-58 9-14 74.
WYOMING (13-6, 2-3 MWC)
Muojeke 9-16 4-5 25, Johnson 6-6 7-8 19, Waddell 0-3 2-2 2, Ogirri 4-7 2-2 11, Ewing 2-7 13-15 18, Linskens 0-0 0-0 0, Thiam 4-5 0-2 8, Diakite 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-45 28-34 83.
Halftime — Wyoming 45-31. 3-point goals — Colorado St. 7-18 (Carr 3-8, Dunn 2-2, McFarland 2-4, Gardner 0-2, Nigon 0-2), Wyoming 5-17 (Muojeke 3-7, Ewing 1-4, Ogirri 1-4, Davis 0-1, Thiam 0-1). Fouled out — Carr. Rebounds — Colorado St. 26 (McFarland 6), Wyoming 30 (Johnson 9). Assists — Colorado St. 11 (Carr 4), Wyoming 14 (Ewing, Muojeke 4). Total fouls — Colorado St. 22, Wyoming 16. A — 7,014.
