# 2020–21 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team

The 2020–21 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team represented the University of Wyoming during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by Jeff Linder in his first 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. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Cowboys finished the season 14–11, 7–9 in Mountain West play to finish in seventh place. They defeated San Jose State in the first round of the Mountain West tournament before losing to San Diego State in the quarterfinals.

## Previous season

The Cowboys finished the 2019–20 season 9–24, 2–16 in Mountain West play to finish in last place in the conference. As the 11 seed in the Mountain West tournament, they upset Colorado State and Nevada to reach the semifinals, where they lost to Utah State. They became the first ever 11 seed to win a game at the Mountain West tournament.
On March 9, 2020, head coach Allen Edwards was fired. He finished at Wyoming with a four-year record of 60–76. On March 17, the school announced that Northern Colorado head coach Jeff Linder had been named head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Jake Hendricks | 0 | G | 6'5" | 170 | Senior | Smithfield, UT | Graduated |
| A.J. Banks | 2 | G | 6'2" | 163 | Senior | Las Vegas, NV | Graduated |
| TJ Taylor | 11 | G/F | 6'6" | 197 | Sophomore | Chesapeake, VA | Transferred to James Madison |
| Greg Milton III | 12 | G | 6'3" | 185 | Sophomore | Elk Grove, CA | Transferred to Cal State San Marcos |
| Brandon Porter | 13 | F | 6'8" | 193 | Sophomore | Virginia Beach, VA | Transferred to Humboldt State |
| Austin Mueller | 14 | F | 6'6" | 210 | Sophomore | Highlands Ranch, CO | Injuries |
| Tyler Morman | 15 | F | 6'9" | 220 | Junior | Mableton, GA | Transferred to Southern Miss |
| Javier Turner | 31 | F | 6'11" | 230 | Freshman | Omaha, NE | Transferred to Wabash Valley College |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Drake Jeffries | 0 | G | 6'5" | 185 | Junior | Mattoon, IL | Indian Hills Community College |
| Drew LaMont | 2 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Junior | Plantation, FL | Indian River State College |
| Eoin Nelson | 11 | F | 6'10" | 225 | Sophommore | Dublin, IRE | Otero Junior College |

### Recruiting classes
#### 2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Xavier Dusell G | Scottsdale, AZ | Arizona Compass Prep | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Mar 24, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Marcus Williams SG | Dickinson, TX | Dickinson HS | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Apr 9, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Graham Ike F | Aurora, CO | Overland HS | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 245 lb (111 kg) | Apr 15, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Jeremiah Oden F | Chicago, IL | Sunrise Christian Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | May 2, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: – Rivals: 53 ||||||
| 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 2020". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 16, 2020. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 16, 2020. ||||||

#### 2021 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2021) :
| 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: N/A Rivals: 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 2020". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 16, 2020. "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 16, 2020. |||||||

## Statistics

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Terrin Dickey | 1 | 0 | .4 | — | — | — | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
| Xavier DuSell | 25 | 11 | 23.7 | .497 | .456 | .700 | 1.9 | .9 | .4 | .0 | 9.7 |
| Kenny Foster | 17 | 12 | 24.5 | .464 | .419 | .722 | 3.6 | .9 | .4 | .4 | 9.1 |
| John Grigsby | 3 | 0 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | — | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
| Graham Ike | 12 | 7 | 21.3 | .602 | .000 | .683 | 5.4 | .8 | .5 | .3 | 11.2 |
| Drake Jeffries | 25 | 4 | 22.6 | .381 | .366 | .882 | 2.7 | .8 | .5 | .3 | 7.4 |
| Drew LaMont | 5 | 0 | 10.4 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 | 1.2 | .8 | .0 | .0 | 3.4 |
| Hunter Maldonado | 25 | 25 | 35.8 | .419 | .200 | .694 | 6.8 | 4.6 | 1.2 | .4 | 12.5 |
| Kwane Marble II | 23 | 13 | 23.0 | .456 | .308 | .734 | 4.1 | 1.2 | 1.0 | .0 | 9.5 |
| Eoin Nelson | 8 | 0 | 9.9 | .579 | — | .500 | 3.1 | .0 | .3 | .0 | 3.1 |
| Jeremiah Oden | 23 | 11 | 13.7 | .393 | .241 | .857 | 2.7 | .4 | .3 | .3 | 4.0 |
| Hunter Thompson | 24 | 18 | 23.4 | .426 | .358 | .750 | 3.8 | .9 | .6 | .5 | 7.0 |
| Marcus Williams | 25 | 24 | 31.1 | .452 | .330 | .705 | 2.5 | 4.3 | 1.4 | .2 | 14.8 |

## Schedule and results

The beginning of the season was delayed until November 25 as a result of the ongoing COVID–19 pandemic. The Mountain West conference announced changes to the conference schedule that included a 20-game conference slate, and the school announced the non-conference portion of their schedule November 10.
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference ||||||
| November 28, 2020* 2:00 pm | | Mississippi Valley State | W 97–61 | 1–0 | Arena-Auditorium (1,126) Laramie, WY |
| November 30* 7:00 pm | | Texas Southern | L 74–76 | 1–1 | Arena-Auditorium (1,066) Laramie, WY |
| December 2* 7:00 pm | | Incarnate Word | W 94–83 $^{OT}$ | 2–1 | Arena-Auditorium (1,066) Laramie, WY |
| December 6* 2:00 pm, P12N | | at Oregon State | W 76–73 | 3–1 | Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR |
| December 9* 7:00 pm | | Denver | W 83–61 | 4–1 | Arena-Auditorium (736) Laramie, WY |
| December 12* 2:00 pm | | at Utah Valley | W 93–88 | 5–1 | UCCU Center Orem, UT |
| December 17* 7:00 pm | | Omaha | W 82–78 | 6–1 | Arena-Auditorium Laramie, WY |
| Mountain West Conference ||||||
| January 2, 2021 5:00 pm | | at Fresno State | W 78–74 | 7–1 (1–0) | Save Mart Center Fresno, CA |
| January 4 7:00 pm | | at Fresno State | L 61–81 | 7–2 (1–1) | Save Mart Center Fresno, CA |
| January 11 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Boise State | L 60–83 | 7–3 (1–2) | Arena-Auditorium Laramie, WY |
| January 13 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Boise State | L 70–90 | 7–4 (1–3) | Arena-Auditorium Laramie, WY |
| January 16 2:00 pm | | at Air Force | L 69–72 | 7–5 (1–4) | Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO |
| January 18 7:00 pm | | at Air Force | W 77–58 | 8–5 (2–4) | Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO |
| January 22 6:00 pm, Stadium | | Nevada | W 71–64 | 9–5 (3–4) | Arena-Auditorium Laramie, WY |
| January 24 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | Nevada | W 93–88 | 10–5 (4–4) | Arena-Auditorium Laramie, WY |
| January 28 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at San Diego State | L 57–87 | 10–6 (4–5) | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| January 30 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at San Diego State | L 71–98 | 10–7 (4–6) | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| February 4 7:00 pm | | Colorado State Border War | L 72–74 | 10–8 (4–7) | Arena-Auditorium (1,807) Laramie, WY |
| February 6 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | Colorado State Border War | L 59–68 | 10–9 (4–8) | Arena-Auditorium (2,000) Laramie, WY |
| February 17 6:00 pm | | vs. New Mexico | W 83–74 $^{OT}$ | 11–9 (5–8) | Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO |
| February 19 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. New Mexico | W 79–67 | 12–9 (6–8) | Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO |
| February 25 7:00 pm | | San Jose State | Cancelled | Cancelled | Arena-Auditorium Laramie, WY |
| February 27 2:00 pm | | San Jose State | Cancelled | Cancelled | Arena-Auditorium Laramie, WY |
| March 4 7:30 pm, FS1 | | at Utah State | L 59–72 | 12–10 (6–9) | Smith Spectrum (1,627) Logan, UT |
| March 6 9:00 pm, CBSSN | | UNLV | W 80–69 | 13–10 (7–9) | Arena-Auditorium (1,182) Laramie, WY |
| Mountain West tournament ||||||
| March 10 12:00 pm, Stadium | (8) | vs. (9) San Jose State First round | W 111–80 | 14–10 | Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, NV |
| March 11 1:00 pm, CBSSN | (8) | vs. (1) No. 19 San Diego State Quarterfinals | L 66–69 | 14–11 | Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||
Source