Hunter Maldonado had 29 points, while Graham Ike had 27, to lead No. 22 Wyoming won 75-67 against Air Force on Saturday.
Maldonado had also eight assists and seven rebound, while Ike had twelve rebounds for the Cowboys (22-4 and 11-2 Mountain West Conference).
Freshman Lucas Moerman scored 15 points, a record for Air Force (10-15 and 3-11).
On Jan. 28, the teams met again in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Maldonado was born there. In Wyoming’s win 63-61, he scored 31 points and made a game-winning layup.
“Throughout my history, I’ve played fairly well against them,” Maldonado said. He had nine points and eight turnovers in Tuesday’s Cowboys loss.
Wyoming led by as much as 13 points at halftime, but ended up leading 30-26 at halftime after being held scoreless for the final five minutes. Moerman’s 3-pointer capped off the Falcons 8-0 run to close out the half.
Ike was fouled in the second half. Maldonado, Joseph Octave from Air Force, and Maldonado were both penalized with technical fouls.
Moerman’s 3 tied the score at 46-46. A dunk by Ike, and a three point play gave the Cowboys an advantage of 55-49.
After finishing 11-for-11 from the field, Ike stated that “We were just taking time in the paint” and reading the defense to determine how they would play us.
The Cowboys were 3-for-17 (17.6%) behind, while the Falcons made nine 3-pointers. Wyoming compensated by shooting 68.7% (22-22/32) on 2s, and 84.6% (22-26) at the free-throwline.
Jeff Linder, Wyoming coach, said that the beauty of the situation is that we don’t need to rely on making 3s. We can be an inside team, or we can go to the foul line 26x and make those free shots down the stretch.
A.J. Walker (15 points) & Jake Heidbreder (11) also scored double figures for Falcons. They made nine 3s, but couldn’t overcome Maldonado or Ike’s dominance.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Wyoming cracked the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since 2007, but will likely fall out of the Top 25 poll after it lost 75-66 to New Mexico Tuesday.
TURNING POINT
Maldonado stole the ball and performed an acrobatic, three-point play on the opposite end. This gave Wyoming some breathing space and kept the 8,312 crowd — the largest in seven years at the Arena-Auditorium — engaged. Ike pulled Moerman’s fifth foul, and the Cowboys jumped to a 12-point advantage.
BIG PICTURE
Wyoming: Wyoming’s Cowboys tied Boise State for first in the Mountain West at Saturday night’s game.
Air Force: In Joe Scott’s second tenure as head coach, the Falcons have lost seven consecutive games. They are now 6-28 in Mountain West play. His 2003-04 Falcons won conference and were in the NCAA Tournament.
UP NEXT
Wyoming: On Wednesday, Colorado State hosted Wyoming’s Cowboys. The Cowboys won the first overtime matchup.
Air Force: Fresno State hosts Air Force on Tuesday.
