Pokes hit 12 three pointers in contest
LARAMIE, Wyo. (Dec. 27, 2017) – A career-high 36 points from senior forward Hayden Dalton, including 19 in the second half, helped Wyoming to an 82-69 win over San Diego State in Wednesday night’s Mountain West opener at the Arena-Auditorium. It was the most points by an individual player in the Arena-Auditorium since Ugo Edezue had 36 against Colorado on Dec. 9, 1998. It was also the most points by a UW player since Larry Nance, Jr. scored 38 at Denver on Dec. 15, 2013. Wyoming moves to 10-4 on the season and 1-0 in the MW, as SDSU falls to 8-4 on the year and 0-1 in conference play.
“We did a better job of moving the basketball in the second half,” UW head coach Allen Edwards said. “Obviously, we shot the ball well. Hayden (Dalton) shot the ball really, really well tonight. But I thought it was a great collective team effort. Guys who were on the floor, and even guys who were on the sideline were all involved.”
Dalton led all scorers with his 36 points, including five three-pointers that matched his career best and a career-high 11 free throws. Dalton also pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds that was also his season best for his fourth double-double of the season. Sophomore guard Cody Kelley added a career-high 14 points. Kelley’s five made field goals and four made three-pointers were both career highs. True freshman Hunter Maldonado six points and six rebounds along with a career-high four assists.
The Pokes would earn their largest margin of victory against the Aztecs since the 2001 MW Tournament win that saw UW down SDSU 73-58. Wyoming shot 46 percent from the field, as teams were shooting 39 percent against the Aztecs heading into the contest. The Pokes also knocked down 12 three pointers for the first double-digit three point contest since hitting 12 against Pacific. Wyoming has trailed at the half in four-straight games, but has produced a 3-1 record in those games.
The Aztecs held the advantage on the glass 40-35 with 11 offensive boards with nine of those coming in the opening half. SDSU shot 41 percent from the field and went 9-of-24 from behind the arc for 37 percent.
“We talked about staying assertive, staying aggressive, defending and rebounding the basketball,” Edwards said. “When I talked to them about defending, it was about keeping the ball in front of them and forcing San Diego State into taking tougher twos. At the same time, we had to do a better job of rebounding the basketball. We gave up nine offensive rebounds in the first half and only gave up two in the second half.”
Kelley got the Pokes offense going early, converting on his first two three-point attempts. Dalton picked up two early rebounds and assists, along with an impressive block to stifle a fast-break layup attempt. At the first media timeout at 15:38, Wyoming held a 10-7 lead.
Out of the break, Dalton nailed a triple from two feet outside the arc to double the lead. On the next possession, Dalton made two free throws to cap off a 7-0 run. Consecutive offensive rebounds by the Aztecs brought them back within two points by the 12:30 mark, despite another three from Dalton.
The two squads traded three-pointers out of the next timeout. At the 10:33 mark, San Diego State claimed its first lead of the game since scoring the first bucket to go up 2-0. After a scoring draught of more than two and a half minutes, senior guard Louis Adams displayed his offensive ability with a spin move into the paint and converted on a layup through an Aztec foul. San Diego State responded to regain the lead once again, 24-23, with 8:48 remaining in the opening frame.
Four-straight points from the Aztecs gave them the largest lead of the game thus far, 28-23, at the 7:26 mark. Dalton responded with four-straight points of his own to shrink the lead back to just a point. SDSU continued to put points on the board, but the Pokes kept finding answers to stay within four points through the next media timeout at 3:53, with the Aztecs holding just a 33-31 lead.
A three-point play from James with 2:15 left in the half put the Pokes back ahead, 37-35, but SDSU answered with its sixth triple of the game to jump back into the lead. Another Aztec jumper capped off a five-point run to end the half with the road team holding a 40-37 lead. Dalton finished the first half with 17 points, including 9-of-12 shooting at the free throw line, and seven rebounds.
San Diego State grew the lead back to five points on three different occasions in the early moments of the second half, but by the first media timeout at the 15:40 mark the margin was only one point. After the break, a put-back layup from Dalton gave the Pokes their first lead of the half at 51-50. A triple from senior guard Alex Aka Gorski and a layup from senior forward Alan Herndon completed a 10-0 run to build Wyoming’s lead to 56-50 at the 13:59 mark.
The Aztecs again found an answer with a three-pointer to cut the lead in half, but Kelley came back with his career-best fourth triple of the game to restore the six-point margin.
Over the next four minutes, the Cowboys put together a 15-7 run, including seven points from Dalton. The run ended when Dalton left a layup short and tipped in his own miss for his 10th rebound of the game and 29th point. The bucket put UW ahead 71-57 with 9:54 left in the game.
Dalton went on to score seven of UW’s next nine points to push the lead as high as 19 points with just over four minutes left in the game. The Aztecs would score six-consecutive points to bring the score to 80-67, but that would be as close as the visitors would come in the final minutes of the game.
Led by 58 percent shooting from beyond the arc in the second half, the Cowboys opened Mountain West play with an 82-69 over the Aztecs.
Senior forward Malik Pope led SDSU in scoring with 21 points on 10-of-22 shooting. Redshirt freshman forward Jalen McDaniels pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with six points. The Aztecs’ nine bench points were the fewest from a UW opponent this season.
“We talked to our guys about looking at these first three games as a great opportunity, starting with San Diego State at home, then going on the road at Nevada, which we’ve always emphasized the importance of getting better on the road, and then coming home to host Boise State,” Edwards said.
Wyoming returns to action in one week with its first conference road test against Nevada. The matchup with the Wolf Pack will tip off at 8:30 p.m. MT.