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Wyoming vs Southeastern Louisiana (Sunday at 2 p.m.)

Pokes Wrap Up Homestand Hosting Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday

Contest on AT&T SportsNet

MEDIA RELEASE INFO: https://gowyo.com/documents/2022/11/12/22wyominggamenotesSELA.pdf


LARAMIE, Wyo. (Nov. 12, 2022) – The Pokes wrap up their homestand on Sunday afternoon for a 2 p.m. start against Southeastern Louisiana in the Arena-Auditorium. It marks the first meeting between the schools and the second-straight against a team from the Southland Conference, after UW defeated Nicholls on Thursday.



The contest can be seen on AT&T SportsNet and the Mountain West Network with Jacob Tobey on the call alongisde Brian Burton and Bridget Howard on the sidelines. It is the first of two games that will be on AT&T SportsNet during non-conference play, as the Grand Canyon contest will also be on the network.



Fans can listen to the watch the contest, as well as follow stats on GoWyo.com. The contest will be broadcast live on radio over the 26 affiliate stations of the Cowboy Sports Network, as Reece Monaco will have the call with Kevin McKinney on color.



To secure your seat in the Arena-Auditorium, purchase your tickets TODAY by calling the Wyoming Athletics Ticket Office at (307) 766-7220 or visit Gowyo.com/tickets.



About The Teams

The Cowboys are 2-0 on the season with wins over Colorado Christian and Nicholls. The Pokes are averaging 90.5 points per game, a number thank ranks at the top of the Mountain West. Wyoming is shooting 47 percent from the field and 34 percent from behind the arc averaging 12 triples per game. Wyoming is grabbing 43 rebounds per game, and have a +8.0 margin on the glass this season. The Pokes also share the basketball at a high rate with 17.5 assists per game and have helpers on 58 percent of their baskets this season.



Southeastern Louisiana heads to Laramie with a 1-1 overall record after falling to Colorado State by a score of 80-69 on Friday. The Lions earned a win over Loyola (La.) in the season opener 90-72. SELA was picked to finish fourth in the Southland Conference this season. A great team from beyond the arc the Lions are shooting 44 percent this season with 9.5 per game. From the field, the team is shooting 50 percent.



About The Players

The Pokes have six players averaging double-figures after two games. Guard Brendan Wenzel, who made his season debut on Thursday averages 20 per game. Forward Jeremiah Oden, who missed Thursday’s game averages 17 points per game. Guard Max Agbonkpolo adds 13.5 points per game and leads the team grabbing seven rebounds per game. Guard Hunter Maldonado adds 13.5 points per game and 6.5 assists per night, as he is Wyoming’s all-time leader in helpers and ranks fifth all-time in Mountain West history. Forward Hunter Thompson adds 12 points per game and 6.5 rebounds and guard Noah Reynolds adds 10 points per night.



Southeastern Louisiana is led by Christian Agnew at 14 points per game. He also adds four rebounds per contest, as he made his season debut at Colorado State. Forward Brody Rowbury adds 11 points per game along with three rebounds. He is 9-of-11 from the field. Guard Boogie Anderson adds 11 points per game and has a team-high eight assists.



About The Series

Wyoming and Southeastern Louisiana will meet for the first time on Sunday. Wyoming is 18-5 all-time against Teams from Louisiana.



Up Next

The Cowboys head to the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands and open play on Friday at 2:15 p.m. against Howard.

-WYO-

Game # 2 - Nicholls State - Game Thoughts

I need to go back and watch as I was distracted for most of the first half with some family things, so this is sort of a partial thoughts:

1. MVP - Brendan Wenzel - Linder raved about his offseason and you could see the confidence from him last night. He has really developed into a solid all-around player. I expect him to be a starter long term which is saying something on this roster.

2. LVP - Training staff/whoever is in charge of hydration - I have never seen so many cramps in my life. That should be happening to opponents coming into the dry air and high elevation, not to the Pokes. Something is off.

3. Good/Bad/Ugly

a. Good - Rebounding Margin and FT discrepancy. I thought there was a decent level of aggressiveness last night. We didn't always play smart (more on that coming), but to win the rebounding battle solidly without Ike or Oden is a good sign. Obviously not a big opponent, but we saw a bunch of guys contribute on the glass which was encouraging.

b. Bad - FT Shooting - Missed 11 FT's including those 4 in a row at the end from Anderson. It didn't really matter, but it brings up a real concern. Anderson's career FT percentage is 52% so this isn't a surprise. The problem is that in end game situations, you really need him on the floor for his ball handling ability, but he is a liability on the line. Something to watch moving forward.

c. Ugly - Turnovers - Obviously we had some players out (or in and out) and we are learning how to play faster so there will be some bumps, but 20 turnovers is not going to get it done against a quality opponent.


4. Outcome/Results - One of the biggest changes in D-1 basketball over the last several years is the massive change in NCAA tournament selection criteria and the shift away from metrics which don't include margin of victory (RPI) to metrics that do include measures involving margin of victory (NET, etc.). As a result, in the context of a NCAA tournament bid, last night was basically a loss. It will pull our metrics down. Overall, an 11 point victory against Nicholls at home is probably equivalent to what would be expected of a KenPom team rated around 125 or so, which is obviously not at-large range.

5. Depth - As challenging as last night was, we had our starting 4/5 out for the entire game and at various times in the game had 5 players out with injuries/cramps including 4 starter-level players (Reynolds, Wenzel, Ike, Oden) and yet there wasn't a time when I didn't feel like we had 5 MWC caliber starters on the floor.



Hopefully we can get healthy, sans Ike, before the Paradise Jam. Will likely get Drake in the second game down there and we better have our stuff together by then. They are a very good team.

Bowl eligibility count 11-6-22

Need 84 teams and I am predicting 83.

Eligible - 52
5 - 23*
4 - 18
3 - 23
Ineligible - 14

Here are my predictions by conference:

ACC - 9
AAC - 7
B12 - 8
B10 - 10
CUSA - 7
Ind - 4
MAC - 7
MWC - 7
P12 - 7
SEC - 10
SBC - 7*

* James Madison not counted

There are numerous 4 and 5 win teams playing each other and numbers of teams with apparent harder schedules as well as some with easier remaining games.

Last week I picked out 41 teams I hoped would lose to reduce the potential eligible numbers and 28 of those teams lost. It really is interesting to see the statistical bell curve forming where just about every team can schedule 1-2 almost assured wins. That is why the curve bunches up more around the 4-6+ total.

Beating CSU is the minimum critical game to ensure Wyoming owns the tie breaker with AFA in the event we end at 7-5(5-3).

One game at a time as we still control our own destiny! The target is the whole “enchilada”.

What a chaotic game.

Stetson is off to the Pokes for pulling this game out, with the wild ups and downs. This game of course could have gone either way, but nice to beat the Sheep in the Sheep Dome.
I will easily give credit to the Sheep, they were in it to pound it out on all sides. We squeak it out, and a win is a win, but the Boot Rules. Very tense game without a doubt. No real complaints and I hope all injuries are not too bad. Player of the Game, the WYO QB, WTF, the whole team.

Callihan is leaving

Link Callihan, who is the winningest coach in program history with 178 wins with the Brown & Gold, has compiled a .616 winning percentage in his 10 years with the program. Callihan's 108 Mountain West victories are also the most all-time at UW. Callihan led Wyoming to five 20-win seasons during his tenure and has coached 21 All-Mountain West selections and four academic all-district student-athletes.

Sheep Week

This is the 114th renewal of the Border War.

History:
Series record Pokes 49 W - 59 L 5 Ties.

Current Win streak:
Pokes 1
Longest Win Streak:
Pokes 10
Sheep 5
Coach Bohl’s Border War record 5-3

Pokes open as 8 point favorite.

Time/Place
5:00 pm / Canvas Stadium, Fort Collins CO
Coverage
Television: CBSSN
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network

Current Game Day Forecast:
High: Mid 42, Low: 21 partly cloudy. 1% chance of rain.

Tickets: “Plenty of good seats available.”

My thoughts :
Pokes cover.
Score: Pokes 28. - Sheep 10
If you can be there in person ‘Just Do It’. (Lots of Wyoming Gold looks good on TV)

What is your most memorable Border War game you attended in person?

Mine:
2017 Snow game.

I left at the end of the 3rd Qtr because I feared WDOT would close I-80. It started snowing around half time and It was almost a white out. I had never seen it snow that hard at the WAR. I could hardly see across Jonah Field.

When I left the Pokes were behind and it looked ‘bad’ in more ways than one. When I got to the car and tuned up Dave and Kevin, low and behold, the Cowboys had come all the way back and had the lead. By the time I got over the hill the Pokes had won!

I was PO’d that I left early. I should have stayed even if it meant the Mrs and I were left stranded in the Gem City and had to sleep in the car!

BEAT THE SHEEP

Very Nice...

Good bit of scheduling by Linder--Nicholls St. gives a good early season challenge to their opponents. We'll help their rating too.

Good collective guard play--I could see us transitioning to Maldonado handling the ball less as the season goes on, but he still poses that tough matchup too. With all the talent we collected, Maldonado is still the Alpha on the team. Liked the way every guy gave good minutes when they got in--seven guys with 8 or more points. Remember the AE days when we'd have five guys who did little more than run the floor for 25+ minutes and get 4 pts. and a rebound?

I say let the Powell kid play more minutes--we can hide him if we need to, but I think he can get better fast.
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