LARAMIE — Andy Ogide and Colorado State got off to a great start in the Mountain West Conference race Wednesday night by defeating Front Range rival Wyoming 83-73 before a crowd of 4,397 fans.
The Rams (10-5) played with urgency from the start, taking a 9-3 lead, and never let up.
Ogide led the way with 22 points and six rebounds.
“I didn’t want to wait for anyone else to step up,” said Ogide, a 6-foot-9 junior. “I kind of took it upon myself to score every time I got on the low block. My teammates did a good job finding me.”
After leading by as many as nine points, Colorado State finished the first half up 34-27.
Several of Wyoming’s short-lived, second-half rallies were answered by Ogide and CSU.
“We got out-toughed and outexecuted,” said Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer, whose team allowed 20 points off turnovers and 23 second-chance points. “In conference play, if you get out-toughed, you lose.
“When you can’t consistently get stops, you are not going to be consistently very good. We couldn’t do that, and that is the difference.”
JayDee Luster and Arthur Bouedo made back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Cowboys (7-8) within one, 42-41, with 14:42 remaining in the second half. But the Rams countered. Ogide scored six consecutive points during a 10-4 run as the Rams stretched their lead back to seven at 52-45.
Wyoming twice pulled to within three on 3-pointers, but each time, CSU answered with a 3-pointer of its own.
The second time, after Bouedo made it a 68-65 game with 4:39 left, the Rams’ Dorian Green and Adam Nigon connected on 3-pointers and Ogide finished the clinching 8-0 run with a jumper for a 76-65 lead.
Adam Waddell finished with a career-high 18 points for Wyoming. The Cowboys’ leading scorer for the season, sophomore Afam Muojeke (17.6), sat on the bench the final 10 minutes. He finished with five points and made 1-of-6 shots.
Schroyer said he was playing the Cowboys who were executing the game plan.
“I hope this is the wake-up call we needed,” Schroyer said.
Colorado State hosts Air Force on Saturday and Wyoming hosts San Diego State.
