Former Kentucky player Allen Edwards led Wyoming to the CBI Tournament title on Friday night.
The Cowboys finished the season with a 23-15 record after cutting down the CBI nets.
Here’s a game recap from Wyoming athletics:
"This is the springboard. I want more," Coach @Allen_Edwards after @wyo_mbb's CBI title last night. Recap: https://t.co/9rW7YMTViD. #GoWyo pic.twitter.com/Jxc6OpkKoJ
— Wyoming Cowboys (@wyoathletics) April 1, 2017
A dominating first half propelled the Cowboys to their first postseason tournament title since winning the 1943 NCAA Championship defeating Coastal Carolina by a score of 83-59 on Friday evening in front of a rowdy crowd inside the Arena-Auditorium in the third game of the CBI presented by Five Four. The win also made head coach Allen Edwards the seventh coach in NCAA Division I history to win a postseason title in their first season of their first tenure as head coach.
“I can’t say enough about the fans tonight, they provided great energy for us,” UW head coach Allen Edwards said. “And I couldn’t be happier for our players, our coaches and our fans. This is truly about the team. I was the one chosen to lead this program, but this is about everyone who has worked so hard all year. Not many teams get an opportunity to end their season with a championship, and tonight we were able to be one of those teams.”
Sophomore guard Justin James was named MVP of the College Basketball Invitational presented by Five Four. He averaged over 17 points per game in the tournament after leading UW in scoring this season.
“J.J. (Justin James) is a talented young man,” Edwards said. “I don’t think you can say when you look around this league that he isn’t one of the most talented players in our league.”
The Cowboys held the Chanticleers to under 35 percent from the field for the second-straight game. The Cowboys also won the battle on the boards for the second-straight game grabbing 44 to CCU’s 39. Wyoming took care of the basketball in the game with only seven on the night tying a season-low
The Cowboys hit 13 threes on the night and now have 369 on the season, extending their Mountain West single-season record. Wyoming closed the season hitting double-digit threes in 14 of their last 15 games.
Junior Hayden Dalton led all scorers with 19 points, including five triples on just nine attempts, tying his career high. He also pulled down 11 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season. James tallied 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting and dished out a game-high four assists. The Pokes netted 13 three pointers, their 14th game with double-digit triples in their last 15. The Cowboy bench produced one of its best games of the year with 48 points, outscoring their CCU counterpart by more than 20 points.
Junior Demario Beck posted a team-best 17 points for the Chanticleers on 6-of-11 shots and also recorded a team-high seven rebounds. Junior Jaylen Shaw was CCU’s other double-figure scorer with 10 points and a team-best three assists. Wyoming held the Chanticleers to 33.9 percent from the field and 19.0 percent from beyond the arc.
The Cowboys got off to a 7-2 lead in the first two and a half minutes. James and Jonathan Barnes led the way along with a triple from Lieberman. Barnes brought tremendous energy in his second-straight start, as he added a tip in bucket and three rebounds.
UW built the lead to 15-9 with James scoring seven of those points. But the Chanticleers were aggressive making it a 15-13 game at the 14:36 mark. The Pokes grew the lead to seven points at 20-13 on a three pointer from Alan Herndon that hit the iron and bounced back into the cylinder.
The Pokes went on a 15-0 run for over six and a half minutes. Dalton spearheaded the attack with three triples, as he helped the Pokes build a 35-19 lead. Herndon added five points to the streak for Wyoming. The Cowboys would then cruise to a 42-23 halftime lead. The Pokes held Coastal Carolina to 32 percent from the field in the opening half.
The Chanticleers opened the second half with a 5-0 run in the opening minute making it a 41-28 game. CCU cut the lead to 10 points at the 15:27 mark of the second half on a three pointer from Williams-Powell. The Cowboys responded holding CCU scoreless for three minutes using a 5-0 run making it a 49-34 game. Dalton hit his fourth triple on the day through contact to highlight the run.
A 6-0 run on a three point play from Jordan Naughton and Dalton’s fifth triple made it a 62-41 game with around nine minutes remaining in the game. Back-to-back dunks from Naughton and James built the lead to 25 points, a game-high to that point with under seven minutes remaining.
An 8-2 run capped off by senior Jason McManamen’s final three pointer as a Cowboy fittingly gave the Cowboys their largest lead of the game at 81-51 with just over three minutes left in the game. The Pokes cruised through the final possessions to secure their first postseason title in nearly 75 years.
Wyoming finished the season with a 23-15 record and went 5-1 in the CBI. The Pokes lose seniors Jason McManamen and Morris Marshall.
Step in the right direction #ShowUpShowOut pic.twitter.com/SCfmu4fCxW
— Allen Edwards (@Allen_Edwards) April 2, 2017
