2021–22 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team

2021–22 Wyoming Cowboys basketball
ConferenceMountain West Conference
Record25–9 (13–5 MW)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaArena-Auditorium
Seasons
2021–22 Mountain West Conference
men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 23 Boise State † 15 – 3   .833 27 – 8   .771
No. 24 Colorado State 14 – 4   .778 25 – 6   .806
San Diego State 13 – 4   .765 23 – 9   .719
Wyoming 13 – 5   .722 25 – 9   .735
UNLV 10 – 8   .556 18 – 14   .563
Fresno State 8 – 9   .471 23 – 13   .639
Utah State 8 – 10   .444 18 – 16   .529
Nevada 6 – 12   .333 13 – 18   .419
New Mexico 5 – 12   .294 13 – 19   .406
Air Force 4 – 13   .235 11 – 18   .379
San Jose State 1 – 17   .056 8 – 23   .258
† Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2021–22 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team represented the University of Wyoming during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by Jeff Linder in his second year as head coach at Wyoming. The Cowboys played their home games at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming as members of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 25–9, 13–5 in MWC play to finish in fourth place. They defeated UNLV in the quarterfinals of the MWC tournament before losing to Boise State in the semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 12 seed in the East region where they lost in the First Four to Indiana.

On February 14, 2022, the Cowboys were ranked No. 22 in the AP poll for the first time since 2015.[1][2]

Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Cowboys finished the 2020–21 season 14–11, 7–9 in Mountain West play to finish in eighth place in the conference.[3] In the Mountain West tournament, they defeated San Jose State[4] before losing to San Diego State in the quarterfinals.[5]

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Marcus Williams 1 G 6'2' 180 Freshman Dickinson, TX Transferred to Texas A&M[6]
Drew LaMont 2 F 6'8" 225 Junior Plantation, FL Transferred to Georgetown (KY)
Kwane Marble II 3 G 6'6" 195 Sophomore Denver, CO Transferred to Loyola Marymount

Incoming transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Deng Dut 2 G 6'4" 192 Junior Melbourne, Australia Junior college transferred from College of Southern Idaho
Brendan Wenzel 5 G 6'7" 203 RS Sophomore San Antonio, TX Transferred from Utah in December during the 2020–21 season. Under NCAA transfer rules, Wenzel has to sit out until December and will be eligible to start in January during the 2021–22 season.

2021 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Ben Bowen
G 		Highlands Ranch, CO Mountain Vista HS 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Nov 11, 2020 
Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A
Nate Barnhart
F 		Lenexa, KS De Soto HS 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Nov 11, 2020 
Star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports:3/5 stars    ESPN:3/5 stars
Noah Reynolds
G 		Peoria, IL Peoria Notre Dame HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Apr 21, 2021 
Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: –   Rivals: —
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "ESPN – Wyoming Cowboys Basketball Recruiting 2021". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  • "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 16, 2020.

Roster

2021–22 Wyoming Cowboys men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Drake Jeffries 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 186 lb (84 kg) RS Sr Indian Hills CC
Mattoon HS 		Mattoon, IL
G 2 Deng Dut 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Jr Simonds Catholic College
College of Southern Idaho 		Melbourne, Australia
G 5 Brendan Wenzel 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 203 lb (92 kg) RS So O'Connor HS
Utah 		San Antonio, Texas
F 10 Hunter Thompson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 232 lb (105 kg) RS Sr Pine Bluffs HS Pine Bluffs, WY
F 11 Eoin Nelson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 229 lb (104 kg) Jr Otero Junior College
UCD Marian 		Dublin, IRE
F 15 Nate Barnhart 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr DeSoto HS Lenexa, KS
G 21 Noah Reynolds 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Fr Notre Dame HS Peoria, IL
G 22 Kenny Foster 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 194 lb (88 kg) Jr Smoky Hill HS Aurora, CO
G 24 Hunter Maldonado 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 203 lb (92 kg) RS Sr Vista Ridge HS Colorado Springs, CO
F 25 Jeremiah Oden 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 201 lb (91 kg) So Sunrise Christian Academy Chicago, IL
G 31 Cort Roberson (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Stanwood HS Arlington, WA
F 33 Graham Ike 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 252 lb (114 kg) So Overland HS Aurora, CO
G 40 Ben Bowen 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Mountain Vista HS Highlands Ranch, CO
G 53 Xavier DuSell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Arizona Compass Prep Scottsdale, AZ
F 55 John Grigsby (W) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 211 lb (96 kg) So Park Center HS Louisville, CO
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Statistics

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Xavier DuSell 30 20 28.0 .356 .327 .767 2.3 1.0 .5 .1 7.5
Deng Dut 12 1 7.3 .100 .077 .750 .8 1.1 .3 .0 .7
Kenny Foster 9 0 10.7 .278 .154 1.000 2.0 .7 .4 .0 1.8
John Grigsby 7 0 1.8 .286 .167 .000 .3 .0 .0 .0 .7
Graham Ike 33 33 31.7 .510 .273 .716 9.6 1.3 .7 .3 19.5
Drake Jeffries 34 34 36.6 .435 .409 .811 5.4 .7 .6 .5 10.3
Hunter Maldonado 33 33 37.3 .495 .250 .711 5.7 6.3 1.2 .1 18.5
Eoin Nelson 8 0 2.5 1.000 .000 .000 .8 .0 .0 .0 1.0
Jeremiah Oden 34 32 26.6 .521 .306 .736 4.5 .4 .4 .8 7.8
Noah Reynolds 23 0 11.2 .373 .417 .565 1.0 .7 .2 .2 2.9
Hunter Thompson 34 3 11.2 .390 .373 .636 1.5 .3 .0 .1 2.7
Brendan Wenzel 34 14 23.0 .405 .358 .780 2.9 .5 .4 .1 5.2

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 10, 2021*
7:00 pm 		Detroit Mercy W 85–47  1–0
  22 – Ike   7 – Jeffries   9 – Maldonado  Arena-Auditorium (3,259)
Laramie, WY
November 14, 2021*
2:00 pm 		Arkansas–Pine Bluff W 85–45  2–0
  21 – Ike   8 – Ike   4 – Maldonado  Arena-Auditorium (3,023)
Laramie, WY
November 18, 2021*
9:00 p.m., P12N 		at Washington W 77–72 OT 3–0
  26 – Ike   10 – Tied   2 – DuSell  Alaska Airlines Arena (5,670)
Seattle, WA
November 22, 2021*
7:00 p.m. 		at Grand Canyon W 68–61  4–0
  17 – Maldonado   7 – Maldonado   7 – Maldonado  GCU Arena (6,872)
Phoenix, AZ
November 28, 2021*
7:00 p.m. 		Hastings W 108–59  5–0
  33 – Jeffries   10 – Ike   7 – Dut  Arena-Auditorium (3,291)
Laramie, WY
November 29, 2021*
8:00 pm 		at Cal State Fullerton W 79–66  6–0
  21 – Maldonado   9 – Ike   9 – Maldonado  Titan Gym (772)
Fullerton, CA
December 2, 2021*
7:00 pm 		Denver W 77–64  7–0
  35 – Ike   14 – Ike   4 – DuSell  Arena-Auditorium (4,030)
Laramie, WY
December 4, 2021*
2:00 pm 		McNeese State W 79–58  8–0
  20 – Maldonado   10 – Ike & Oden   5 – Maldonado  Arena-Auditorium (3,726)
Laramie, WY
December 8, 2021*
8:00 p.m., P12N 		at No. 11 Arizona L 65–94  8–1
  22 – DuSell   4 – Tied   4 – Maldonado  McKale Center (13,077)
Tucson, AZ
December 11, 2021*
8:00 pm 		Utah Valley W 74–62  9–1
  16 – DuSell   9 – Ike   5 – Maldonado  Arena-Auditorium (3,927)
Laramie, WY
December 22, 2021*
3:30 pm, ESPNU 		vs. Stanford
Diamond Head Classic Quarterfinals 		L 63–66  9–2
  25 – Ike   11 – Ike   8 – Maldonado  Stan Sheriff Center (4,041)
Honoulu, HI
December 23, 2021*
4:30 pm, ESPNU 		vs. Northern Iowa
Diamond Head Classic Consolation 2nd Round 		W 71–69  10–2
  17 – Maldonado   7 – Maldonado   6 – Maldonado  Stan Sheriff Center (3,951)
Honolulu, HI
December 25, 2021*
11:30 am, ESPNU 		vs. South Florida
Diamond Head Classic 5th Place Game 		W 77–57  11–2
  22 – Maldonado   7 – Ike   10 – Maldonado  Stan Sheriff Center 
Honolulu, HI
Mountain West regular season
January 15, 2022
7:00 pm, Stadium 		at Utah State W 71–69  12–2
(1–0) 		 23 – Ike   8 – Ike   6 – Maldonado  Smith Spectrum (8,109)
Logan, UT
January 17, 2022
6:00 p.m., FS1 		at Nevada
Rescheduled from January 4 		W 77–67  13–2
(2–0) 		 24 – Ike   11 – Ike   11 – Maldonado  Lawlor Events Center (6,369)
Reno, NV
January 19, 2022
7:00 p.m., MW Network/ATTSN 		San José State W 84–69  14–2
(3–0) 		 20 – Maldonado   8 – Oden   12 – Maldonado  Arena-Auditorium (4,371)
Laramie, WY
January 22, 2022
5:30 p.m., CBSSN 		New Mexico W 93–91  15–2
(4–0) 		 29 – Ike   15 – Ike   7 – Maldonado  Arena-Auditorium (5,368)
Laramie, WY
January 25, 2022
7:00 p.m., Stadium 		at Boise State L 62–65  15–3
(4–1) 		 19 – Ike   9 – Ike   5 – Maldonado  ExtraMile Arena (8,292)
Boise, ID
January 28, 2022
4:00 p.m., MW Network 		at Air Force W 63–61  16–3
(5–1) 		 31 – Maldonado   9 – Ike   4 – Maldonado  Clune Arena (1,702)
Colorado Springs, CO
January 31, 2022
6:00 p.m., FS1 		Colorado State
Border War 		W 84–78 OT 17–3
(6–1) 		 35 – Maldonado   8 – Ike   7 – Maldonado  Arena-Auditorium (7,539)
Laramie, WY
February 3, 2022
7:00 p.m., MW Network 		Boise State
Rescheduled from January 1 		W 72–65  18–3
(7–1) 		 33 – Ike   10 – Tied   7 – Maldonado  Arena-Auditorium (7,063)
Laramie, WY
February 6, 2022
5:00 p.m., FS1 		at Fresno State
Rescheduled from January 8 		W 61–59  19–3
(8–1) 		 21 – Maldonado   9 – Jeffries   6 – Maldonado  Save Mart Center (6,017)
Fresno, CA
February 8, 2022
7:00 p.m., Stadium 		Utah State W 78–76 OT 20–3
(9–1) 		 28 – Ike   13 – Jeffries   5 – Maldonado  Arena-Auditorium (5,558)
Laramie, WY
February 12, 2022
7:00 p.m., Stadium 		at San José State W 74–52  21–3
(10–1) 		 25 – Ike   18 – Ike   5 – Maldonado  Provident Credit Union Event Center (2,251)
San Jose, CA
February 15, 2022
7:00 p.m., Stadium 		No. 22 at New Mexico L 66–75  21–4
(10–2) 		 26 – Ike   7 – Ike   4 – Maldonado  The Pit (8,208)
Albuquerque, NM
February 19, 2022
2:00 p.m., MW Network/ATTSN 		No. 22 Air Force W 75–67  22–4
(11–2) 		 29 – Maldonado   12 – Ike   8 – Maldonado  Arena-Auditorium (8,312)
Laramie, WY
February 23, 2022
7:00 p.m., CBSSN 		at Colorado State
Border War 		L 55–61  22–5
(11–3) 		 22 – Jefferies   13 – Ike   3 – Tied  Moby Arena (8,085)
Fort Collins, CO
February 26, 2022
6:00 p.m., CBSSN 		Nevada W 74–61  23–5
(12–3) 		 23 – Ike   15 – Ike   6 – Maldonado  Arena-Auditorium (7,855)
Laramie, WY
February 28, 2022
7:00 p.m., CBSSN 		San Diego State L 66–73  23–6
(12–4) 		 17 – Oden   11 – Maldonado   11 – Maldonado  Arena-Auditorium (5,438)
Laramie, WY
March 2, 2022
8:30 p.m., FS1 		at UNLV L 57–64  23–7
(12–5) 		 22 – Maldonado   10 – Maldonado   7 – Maldonado  Thomas & Mack Center (6,204)
Paradise, NV
March 5, 2022
2:00 p.m., Stadium 		Fresno State W 68–64 OT 24–7
(13–5) 		 21 – DuSell   8 – Ike   8 – Maldonado  Arena-Auditorium (6,230)
Laramie, WY
Mountain West tournament
March 10, 2022
3:30 p.m., CBSSN 		(4) at (5) UNLV
Quarterfinals 		W 59–56  25–7
  12 – Wenzel   13 – Ike   5 – Maldonado  Thomas & Mack Center 
Paradise, NV
March 11, 2022
7:30 p.m., CBSSN 		(4) vs. (1) Boise State
Semifinals 		L 61–68  25–8
  18 – Ike   9 – Maldonado   5 – Maldonado  Thomas & Mack Center 
Paradise, NV
NCAA tournament
March 15, 2022
7:10 pm, TruTV 		(12 E) vs. (12 E) Indiana
First Four 		L 58–66  25–9
  21 – Maldonado   10 – Jeffries   5 – Maldonado  UD Arena (12,522)
Dayton, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Mountain Time.

Source[7][8]

References

  1. ^ ryan.thorburn@trib.com, Ryan Thorburn. "Wyoming Cowboys ranked No. 22 in AP poll for first time in seven years". Casper Star-Tribune Online. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  2. ^ "Ranked for first time in seven years, Wyoming faces UNM". CBSSports.com. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  3. ^ "2020-21 Mountain West Conference Season Summary". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  4. ^ "San José State vs. Wyoming - Game Recap - March 10, 2021 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  5. ^ "Wyoming vs. San Diego State - Game Recap - March 11, 2021 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  6. ^ Gambino, Frank. "Former UW Player Marcus Williams Transfers to Texas A&M". K2 Radio. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  7. ^ "University of Wyoming Official Athletic Site - Men's Basketball". gowyo.com.
  8. ^ "2021-22 Wyoming Cowboys Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 21, 2022.