# 2017–18 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team

The 2017–18 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team represented the University of Wyoming during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by Allen Edwards 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 20–13, 10–8 in Mountain West play to finish in sixth place. They defeated San Jose State in the first round of the Mountain West tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to New Mexico. Despite having 20 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Previous season

The Cowboys finished the 2016–17 season 23–15, 8–10 in Mountain West play to finish in seventh place. They lost in the first round of the Mountain West tournament to Air Force. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) where they defeated Eastern Washington, UMKC, and Utah Valley to advance to the best-of-three championship series against Coastal Carolina. They defeated Coastal Carolina two-games-to-one to win the CBI championship. The Cowboys were the second consecutive Mountain West team to win the CBI after Nevada did so in 2016.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Jeremy Lieberman | 11 | G | 6'1" | 175 | Junior | Calabasas, CA | Graduate transferred to California Baptist |
| Jonathan Barnes | 21 | C | 6'10" | 245 | Junior | Parker, CO | Graduate transferred to UC–Colorado Springs |
| Jason McManamen | 23 | G | 6'5" | 195 | RS Senior | Torrington, WY | Graduated |
| Morris Marshall | 25 | G | 6'4" | 180 | Senior | White Springs, FL | Graduated |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Hunter Thompson #38 PF | Pine Bluffs, WY | Pine Bluffs High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Sep 6, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Anthony Mack #72 SF | Blairstown, NJ | Blair Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Nov 2, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Hunter Maldonado #98 SF | Colorado Springs, CO | Vista Ridge HS | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jun 6, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ||||||
| 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 2017". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 22, 2017. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 22, 2017. ||||||

## Preseason

In a vote by conference media at the Mountain West media day, the Cowboys were picked to finish in seventh place in the Mountain West.

## Statistics

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | BPG | SPG | PPG |
| Louis Adams | 31 | 3 | 19.2 | .479 | .426 | .705 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 9.7 |
| Alexander Aka Gorski | 31 | 11 | 22.5 | .344 | .288 | .744 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 6.8 |
| Sam Averbuck | 10 | 0 | 3.1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Hayden Dalton | 33 | 33 | 33.3 | .458 | .403 | .838 | 7.8 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 17.7 |
| Alan Herndon | 33 | 32 | 31.9 | .512 | .336 | .609 | 5.7 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 11.8 |
| Justin James | 32 | 32 | 31.2 | .472 | .308 | .726 | 6.0 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 18.9 |
| Brodricks Jones | 15 | 0 | 4.6 | .167 | .125 | 1.000 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| Cody Kelley | 33 | 23 | 23.2 | .390 | .351 | .641 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 5.2 |
| Hunter Maldonado | 29 | 19 | 21.2 | .388 | .304 | .735 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 5.3 |
| Andrew Moemeka | 29 | 3 | 10.7 | .541 | .000 | .684 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.8 |
| Austin Mueller | 13 | 0 | 6.5 | .556 | .500 | 1.000 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.1 |
| Jordan Naughton | 9 | 0 | 6.9 | .571 | .000 | .667 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 2.0 |
| Nyaires Redding | 32 | 9 | 13.9 | .359 | .394 | .877 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.7 |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 3, 2017* 8:30 pm | | Regis | W 75–65 | | Arena-Auditorium (6,058) Laramie, WY |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Chattanooga Cayman Islands Classic | W 74–65 | 1–0 | Arena-Auditorium (5,056) Laramie, WY |
| Nov 13, 2017* 9:00 pm, P12N | | at Oregon State | W 75–66 | 2–0 | Gill Coliseum (3,874) Corvallis, OR |
| Nov 20, 2017* 12:30 pm | | vs. South Dakota State Cayman Islands Classic quarterfinals | W 77–65 | 3–0 | John Gray Gymnasium (900) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| Nov 21, 2017* 12:30 pm | | vs. Louisiana Cayman Islands Classic semifinals | W 70–61 | 4–0 | John Gray Gymnasium (654) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| Nov 22, 2017* 5:30 pm | | vs. No. 12 Cincinnati Cayman Islands Classic championship game | L 53–78 | 4–1 | John Gray Gymnasium (1,530) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| Nov 26, 2017* 4:00 pm | | New Mexico Highlands | W 83–70 | 5–1 | Arena-Auditorium (4,205) Laramie, WY |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Denver | L 78–88 | 5–2 | Magness Arena (1,662) Denver, CO |
| Dec 2, 2017* 4:00 pm | | Drake MW–MWC Challenge | W 96–89 $^{2OT}$ | 6–2 | Arena-Auditorium (4,853) Laramie, WY |
| Dec 6, 2017* 5:00 pm, SECN+ | | at South Carolina | L 64–80 | 6–3 | Colonial Life Arena (10,205) Columbia, SC |
| Dec 9, 2017* 4:00 pm | | Pacific | W 86–72 | 7–3 | Arena-Auditorium (4,606) Laramie, WY |
| Dec 12, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Eastern Washington | W 93–88 $^{OT}$ | 8–3 | Arena-Auditorium (4,363) Laramie, WY |
| Dec 16, 2017* 8:00 pm | | Texas Southern | W 72–66 | 9–3 | Arena-Auditorium (4,487) Laramie, WY |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Northern Colorado | L 84–91 | 9–4 | Arena-Auditorium (4,289) Laramie, WY |
| Mountain West regular season ||||||
| Dec 27, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | San Diego State | W 82–69 | 10–4 (1–0) | Arena-Auditorium (4,823) Laramie, WY |
| Jan 3, 2018 8:30 pm, CBSSN | | at Nevada | L 83–92 | 10–5 (1–1) | Lawlor Events Center (9,188) Reno, NV |
| Jan 6, 2018 6:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | Boise State | W 79–78 $^{OT}$ | 11–5 (2–1) | Arena-Auditorium (5,301) Laramie, WY |
| Jan 10, 2018 7:00 pm, Stadium | | at New Mexico | L 66–75 | 11–6 (2–2) | The Pit (9,846) Albuquerque, NM |
| Jan 13, 2018 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | Colorado State Border War | L 73–78 | 11–7 (2–3) | Arena-Auditorium (7,014) Laramie, WY |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Utah State | W 85–77 | 12–7 (3–3) | Smith Spectrum (7,148) Logan, UT |
| Jan 24, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | No. 23 Nevada | W 104–103 $^{2OT}$ | 13–7 (4–3) | Arena-Auditorium (5,017) Laramie, WY |
| Jan 27, 2018 3:00 pm | | at San Jose State | W 90–86 $^{OT}$ | 14–7 (5–3) | Event Center Arena (1,742) San Jose, CA |
| Jan 31, 2018 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Colorado State Border War | W 91–86 $^{2OT}$ | 15–7 (6–3) | Moby Arena (4,177) Fort Collins, CO |
| Feb 3, 2018 12:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | Fresno State | L 62–80 | 15–8 (6–4) | Arena-Auditorium (5,690) Laramie, WY |
| Feb 7, 2018 7:00 pm | | Utah State | W 83–65 | 16–8 (7–4) | Arena-Auditorium (4,672) Laramie, WY |
| Feb 10, 2018 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at UNLV | L 70–85 | 16–9 (7–5) | Thomas & Mack Center (11,421) Paradise, NV |
| Feb 14, 2018 9:00 pm, CBSSN | | at San Diego State | L 77–87 | 16–10 (7–6) | Viejas Arena (10,494) San Diego, CA |
| Feb 17, 2018 2:00 pm | | San Jose State | W 89–75 | 17–10 (8–6) | Arena-Auditorium (5,731) Laramie, WY |
| Feb 20, 2018 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | New Mexico | L 114–119 | 17–11 (8–7) | Arena-Auditorium (4,321) Laramie, WY |
| Feb 24, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Fresno State | W 78–68 | 18–11 (9–7) | Save Mart Center (9,645) Fresno, CA |
| Feb 28, 2018 7:00 pm | | Air Force | W 66–54 | 19–11 (10–7) | Arena-Auditorium (5,731) Laramie, WY |
| Mar 3, 2018 5:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Boise State | W 95–87 | 19–12 (10–8) | Taco Bell Arena (10,303) Boise, ID |
| Mountain West tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 2018 4:00 pm, Stadium | (6) | vs. (11) San Jose State First round | W 74–61 | 20–12 | Thomas & Mack Center (4,994) Paradise, NV |
| Mar 8, 2018 9:30 pm, CBSSN | (6) | vs. (3) New Mexico Quarterfinals | L 75–85 | 20–13 | Thomas & Mack Center (7,138) Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||
Source