Cowboys Can’t Overcome Turnovers in 84-64 Loss at San Jose State

* University of Wyoming press release

SAN JOSE STATE, Calif., -- The Cowboys could not overcome turnovers in 84-64 loss to San Jose State in the Provident Credit Union Event Center in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday evening. Wyoming recorded 17 miscues in the game with the Spartans scoring 31 points on Cowboy mistakes.

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“In the first half, we turned it over 12 times and I think that led to 23 or 24 points for San Jose State and then the three offensive rebounds at the start which I think led to another nine points,” UW head coach Jeff Linder said. “It is a possession game and it’s hard to beat the other team when you allow the other team to shoot 55 percent and you shoot 40 percent. You only get about 60 possessions in a game and when you’re giving up 17 of them on turnovers it’s hard to beat anybody.”

The Cowboys were led in scoring by Hunter Maldonado with a season-high 34 points, as it was his 25th career game with 20 or more points and his 99th career game in double-figures. He is also inching closer to 2,000 career points, as he now sits at 1,987. Maldonado hit a career-high with 13 field goals. Jeremiah Oden added 12 points in the game for his ninth game this season in double-figures and 25th of his career.

“He did everything he could and that’s Maldo,” Linder said. “He did everything he needed to do but we need more guys to step up.” San Jose State has a winning record and their pace was good tonight. We played into that, but give them credit for coming out and kind of punching us and we didn’t recover. Now we just need to get ready for UNLV.”

The Pokes shot 42 percent from the field and 32 percent from deep. San Jose State shot 57 percent and knocked down 11 threes on the night. San Jose State held a 29-27 lead on the glass for the night. The Cowboys had 11 offensive rebounds but recorded only seven points on second chances.

The Spartans got out to a 6-2 lead on the Pokes in the early going of the first half. Nate Barnhart would knock down a three-pointer for a 6-5 game. The Spartans answered with a 10-0 run over 1:24 to take a 16-5 lead with 15:44 left in the opening half.

Brendan Wenzel would hit a pair of free throws and Oden added a triple, a jumper, and a free throw for a 16-13 game with 12:48 left in the half. Maldonado would cap the 11-0 run with a triple for a tie contest the following trip down the floor.

The Spartans would go on a 9-0 run and take a 25-16 lead with eight minutes left in the stanza. SJSU would later build the lead to 14-points at 34-20 with under four minutes left in the half. The Spartans would make four-straight field goals and would take a 39-21 lead with under three-minutes left in the half.

Caden Powell would add a jumper followed by a three-pointer from Xavier DuSell and turn around one hander from Maldonado made it a 39-28 game into the half. The Pokes and Spartans combined for 21 turnovers in the first half, but the Spartans shot 58 percent from the field and held the Pokes to 40 percent.

Maldonado helped the Pokes cut the lead to single digits in the early goings of the first half with a layup and a three-pointer for a 41-33 game. He would later make it a six-point game at 43-37 with 16:05 left in the game after a pair of free throws and a layup.

Barnhart would make it a five-point game at 46-41 off a nice pick and roll with 14 minutes left. But the Spartans answered with a 7-0 run to take a 53-41 game at the 12:29 mark. The Spartans used the three-ball to build the lead to 17-points at 66-49 with under nine minutes left.

Maldonado once again willed the Cowboys and made it a 14-point contest at 70-56 with just over six minutes left, as he would hit the 30-point mark. But the Spartans went on a 7-0 run and made it a 77-56 game and would take the contest, 84-64.

The Spartans were led by Omari Moore with 29 points in the contest. He was 10-of-22 from the field in the game. Sage Tolbert added 14 points for SJSU.

The Cowboys return to action on Wednesday hosting UNLV in a contest slated for an 8:30 p.m. on FS1.