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Wyoming Basketball: Wyoming Cowboys 2015-16 Season Preview

By Mitch Krmpotich

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Wyoming Cowboys

2014-2015 Record: 25-10 (11-7, Mountain West)
Postseason: NCAA Tournament – Second Round

The Cowboys made it to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002.  Wyoming had some success in the past few seasons, but this past season was the most successful that the Cowboys had seen in a long time.

The Pokes were led by Larry Nance Jr. who went on to be drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Wyoming shocked the rest of the Mountain West when they beat Utah State, Boise State, and San Diego State to win the Mountain West Tournament and get an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Cowboys then went on to face a tough Northern Iowa team. Wyoming lost this game and halted their chances for the Cinderella run that many were hoping for.

Newcomers

G – Austin Conway (79 grade from ESPN)
G – Justin James
G – Morris Marshall (Transfer from Santa Fe College)
F – Hayden Dalton (Transfer from Central Wyoming College)
F – Andrew Moemeka
C – Jordan Naughton (69 grade from ESPN)

Key Non-Conference Games

Dec. 5 vs Cal – This is the first tough opponent that the Cowboys will face. Prior to this date the schedule is pretty soft for Wyoming.

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    • Last season the Pokes went to Cal and lost. This was one of only two non-conference losses that the Cowboys had. The other loss came against SMU.

    Wyoming will have to avoid falling into the trap of getting used to playing easy opponents in order to avoid losing to Cal again.

    Dec. 13 at New Mexico State – New Mexico State has been surprisingly good over the past few seasons.

    Last season when these two teams met Wyoming snuck away with a 78-75 victory. This Wyoming team is far different than what it was a year ago, so it will be interesting to see if this game is close again this year.

    Key Players

    Josh Adams – Adams is the only senior on the team this year. Last season he averaged 13.1 points per game and led the team with 3.5 assists per game.

    This is definitely Adams’ team. He has a completely new team around him and he will have to be a leader in order for the team to succeed.

    Jonathan Barnes  – Barnes is a sophomore center for the Cowboys. He only averaged 4.5 minutes per game last season. This season he will look to have a much larger role.

    He is the biggest player on the team at 6′ 10″ and 245 lbs. For Wyoming the be successful, Barnes will have to use his size to defend and to make the offense less predictable. Wyoming has some great athletic guards.

    If Barnes can become a threat down low he can open up the offense to more variety.

    Season Outlook

    I don’t think this season will go quite as well as the last for Wyoming. Losing Larry Nance Jr. is huge.

    Despite an easy non-conference schedule, the Cowboys might not have as good of a record as they did last season. The Mountain West is a good conference with tough teams like Boise State, San Diego State, and New Mexico.

    I expect Wyoming to finish in the middle of the pack. They might get a win in the Mountain West Tournament, but I don’t expect them to win it again. This is more of a rebuild for Wyoming.

    Next: What is a Fitting Punishment for Rick Pitino?

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