FORT COLLINS — Of all the classic games in the previous 210 Border War meetings, Wednesday provided something of a first.
“We beat ourselves tonight,” CSU coach Tim Miles said of the Rams’ woeful 59.3 percent free-throw shooting and botched final shots in Wyoming’s 82-79 comeback victory.
Wyoming (17-10, 6-7 Mountain West Conference) begs to differ over credit for the win. On the night senior guard Brandon Ewing surpassed 1960’s legend Flynn Robinson for second place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 2,058 career points, Ewing scored four of his game-high 21 points in the final 32 seconds.
No one in the Moby Arena crowd of 5,556 doubted Ewing would take the shot with Wyoming clinging to a 76-74 lead. He drove in unfazed with 33 seconds left for a four-point lead.
Marcus Walker answered behind the arc to make it 78-77. Wyoming freshman Afam Muojeke and Ewing hit four straight free throws in the last 20 seconds.
After Ewing’s free throws with 8.1 seconds left, the Rams’ Willis Gardner tried to send it into overtime. He misfired twice up close and didn’t draw a foul.
The Rams (9-19, 4-10) all but assured themselves the No. 8 seed in the MWC and a play-in game against Air Force in the conference tournament. CSU took this loss harder than most of the previous 18 defeats. CSU led most of the way with Andre McFarland dropping in five 3-pointers and Andy Ogide leading the inside attack with 19 points.
“I think this probably hurt more than any other game,” said Ogide.
As for the No. 8 seed, Miles said: “Well, yeah, I’m mad. This won’t go away soon. It’s winnable. It’s Wyoming. It’s the play-in game. It’s a lot of stuff.”
WYOMING (17-10, 6-7 MWC)
Muojeke 7-11 3-4 19, Johnson 5-10 2-2 12, Waddell 0-1 1-2 1, Ogirri 3-9 0-0 9, Ewing 5-8 11-13 21, Dermody 3-4 0-1 7, Linskens 0-0 0-0 0, Thiam 4-6 1-2 9, Davis 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 29-51 18-24 82.
COLORADO STATE (9-19, 4-10)
McFarland 5-10 1-2 16, Ogide 7-15 5-6 19, Walker 6-18 1-2 15, Perry 3-5 0-3 8, Gardner 5-8 5-10 15, Franklin 1-2 2-2 4, Nigon 0-0 0-0 0, Dunn 0-0 0-0 0, Bocar Ba 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 27-59 16-27 79.
Halftime — CSU 35-33. 3-point goals — UW 6-15 (Ogirri 3-5, Muojeke 2-5, Dermody 1-2, Thiam 0-1, Ewing 0-2), CSU 9-22 (McFarland 5-9, Perry 2-4, Walker 2-7, Gardner 0-2). Fouled out — Thiam. Rebounds — UW 32 (Johnson, Muojeke 7), CSU 29 (Ogide, Perry 6). Assists — UW 15 (Ewing 9), CSU 10 (Perry, Walker 3). Total fouls — UW 18, CSU- 19. A — 5,556.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
