# 2015–16 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team

The 2015–16 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team represented the University of Wyoming during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Larry Shyatt in his sixth and final year, including his first tenure in 1998. Shyatt resigned at the end of the year to take a job in the NBA. They played their home games at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming. The Cowboys were a member of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 14–18, 7–11 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They lost in the first round of the Mountain West tournament to Utah State.
On March 21, head coach Larry Shyatt resigned.

## Previous season

The Cowboys finished the season 25–10, 11–7 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They defeated Utah State, Boise State and San Diego State to become champions of the Mountain West tournament. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the second round to Northern Iowa.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Riley Grabau | 2 | G | 6'2" | 165 | Senior | Boulder, CO | Graduated |
| Charles Hankerson, Jr. | 3 | G | 6'4" | 230 | Senior | Miami, FL | Graduated |
| Derek Cooke, Jr. | 11 | F | 6'9" | 220 | Senior | Washington, D.C. | Graduated |
| Jack Bentz | 13 | G | 6'1" | 180 | Senior | Chagrins Falls, OH | Graduated |
| Larry Nance Jr. | 22 | F | 6'8" | 230 | Senior | Akron, OH | Graduated/2015 NBA draft |
| Tyrell Williams | 44 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Freshman | Miami, FL | Transferred to Western Nebraska CC |

## Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Hayden Dalton | 20 | F | 6'8" | 185 | Sophomore | Parker, CO | Junior college transfer from Central Wyoming College |
| Morris Marshall | 25 | G | 6'4" | 185 | Junior | Lake City, FL | Junior college transfer from Santa Fe College |

## Incoming Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Austin Conway #40 PG | Aurora, CO | Overland High School | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Jul 1, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Jordan Naughton #60 C | Rancho Cucamonga, CA | Etiwanda High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Aug 6, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 69 ||||||
| Andrew Moemeka PF | Lake City, FL | Oldsmar Christian High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Aug 4, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Justin James SG | Port Saint Lucie, FL | Oldsmar Christian High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 14, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 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: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 3, 2015. ||||||

### 2016 Recruiting Class

US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Austin Mueller #72 PF | Highlands Ranch, CO | ThunderRidge HS | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Jun 17, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 69 |||||||
| 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 13, 2016. |||||||

## Statistics

Source:
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Josh Adams | 30 | 30 | 36.9 | .441 | .378 | .827 | 5.5 | 4.2 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 24.7 |
| Alexander Aka Gorski | 31 | 10 | 18.8 | .383 | .370 | .705 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 5.6 |
| Jonathan Barnes | 28 | 23 | 10.4 | .462 | – | .474 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.9 |
| Hayden Dalton | 28 | 1 | 14.7 | .438 | .303 | .786 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 3.8 |
| Alan Herndon | 31 | 30 | 28.5 | .517 | .304 | .597 | 4.8 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 7.8 |
| Justin James | 30 | 3 | 16.4 | .418 | .358 | .565 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 5.2 |
| Jeremy Lieberman | 31 | 22 | 20.9 | .342 | .351 | .773 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 4.0 |
| Morris Marshall | 8 | 0 | 3.0 | .286 | .000 | 1.000 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| Jason McManamen | 31 | 31 | 35.0 | .459 | .440 | .755 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 14.4 |
| Jordan Naughton | 23 | 0 | 11.3 | .800 | – | .488 | 1.9 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 3.0 |
| Trey Washington III | 26 | 5 | 18.9 | .313 | .231 | .611 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 2.8 |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/07/2015* 7:00 pm | | Fort Lewis | L 69–77 $^{OT}$ | | Arena-Auditorium (7,677) Laramie, WY |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/13/2015* 7:00 pm | | Bristol University | W 101–62 | 1–0 | Arena-Auditorium (5,812) Laramie, WY |
| 11/16/2015* 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Indiana State MW–MVC Challenge | L 55–70 | 1–1 | Hulman Center (3,601) Terre Haute, IN |
| 11/19/2015* 7:00 pm | | New Mexico Highlands | W 83–67 | 2–1 | Arena–Auditorium (4,462) Laramie, WY |
| 11/22/2015* 2:00 pm | | vs. Montana State Billings Showcase | L 82–83 | 2–2 | Rimrock Auto Arena (4,207) Billings, MT |
| 11/25/2015* 7:00 pm | | Cal State Bakersfield | W 68–64 | 3–2 | Arena–Auditorium (4,387) Laramie, WY |
| 11/28/2015* 7:00 pm | | Montana State | W 82–68 | 4–2 | Arena–Auditorium (5,022) Laramie, WY |
| 12/02/2015* 7:00 pm, RTRM | | at Denver | W 68–52 | 5–2 | Magness Arena (2,036) Denver, CO |
| 12/05/2015* 1:00 pm, CBSSN | | California | L 72–78 $^{OT}$ | 5–3 | Arena–Auditorium (6,568) Laramie, WY |
| 12/10/2015* 7:00 pm, RTRM | | Southern Global Basketball Classic | L 58–68 | 5–4 | Arena–Auditorium (4,989) Laramie, WY |
| 12/13/2015* 7:00 pm, Altitude | | at New Mexico State | W 62–59 | 6–4 | Pan American Center (4,562) Las Cruces, NM |
| 12/19/2015* 12:00 pm | | Nebraska–Omaha Global Basketball Classic | W 76–75 | 7–4 | Arena–Auditorium (4,408) Laramie, WY |
| 12/21/2015* 8:30 pm | | vs. Marshall Global Basketball Classic semifinals | L 82–90 | 7–5 | Cox Pavilion Paradise, NV |
| 12/22/2015* 6:00 pm | | vs. Houston Global Basketball Classic 3rd Place | L 89–94 $^{2OT}$ | 7–6 | Cox Pavilion Paradise, NV |
| Mountain West regular season ||||||
| 12/30/2015 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at San Diego State | L 55–67 | 7–7 (0–1) | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| 01/02/2016 4:00 pm, RTRM | | at Nevada | L 68–71 | 7–8 (0–2) | Lawlor Events Center (6,317) Reno, NV |
| 01/06/2016 7:00 pm | | Air Force | W 64–52 | 8–8 (1–2) | Arena–Auditorium (4,681) Laramie, WY |
| 01/09/2016 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | UNLV | W 59–57 | 9–8 (2–2) | Arena–Auditorium (5,485) Laramie, WY |
| 01/13/2016 8:00 pm | | at San Jose State | L 55–62 | 9–9 (2–3) | Event Center Arena (1,395) San Jose, CA |
| 01/16/2016 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | at New Mexico | W 70–68 | 10–9 (3–3) | The Pit (13,196) Albuquerque, NM |
| 01/20/2016 7:00 pm | | Nevada | L 69–75 | 10–10 (3–4) | Arena–Auditorium (4,959) Laramie, WY |
| 01/23/2016 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Boise State | L 71–81 | 10–11 (3–5) | Arena–Auditorium (6,091) Laramie, WY |
| 01/26/2016 9:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Fresno State | L 60–71 | 10–12 (3–6) | Save Mart Center (5,802) Fresno, CA |
| 01/30/2016 4:00 pm, RTRM | | Colorado State Border War | W 83–76 | 11–12 (4–6) | Arena–Auditorium (8,148) Laramie, WY |
| 02/02/2016 7:00 pm, RTRM | | at Air Force | L 62–70 | 11–13 (4–7) | Clune Arena (876) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 02/06/2016 4:00 pm, RTRM | | Utah State | W 84–65 | 12–13 (5–7) | Arena–Auditorium (6,141) Laramie, WY |
| 02/13/2016 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Boise State | L 71–94 | 12–14 (5–8) | Taco Bell Arena (7,334) Boise, ID |
| 02/17/2016 7:00 pm, RTRM | | Fresno State | L 75–79 | 12–15 (5–9) | Arena–Auditorium (4,852) Laramie, WY |
| 02/20/2016 2:00 pm | | at Colorado State Border War | W 84–66 | 13–15 (6–9) | Moby Arena (7,067) Fort Collins, CO |
| 02/24/2016 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | San Diego State | L 61–73 | 13–16 (6–10) | Arena–Auditorium (5,408) Laramie, WY |
| 02/27/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UNLV | L 74–79 | 13–17 (6–11) | Thomas & Mack Center (12,412) Paradise, NV |
| 03/02/2016 7:00 pm | | San Jose State | W 81–78 | 14–17 (7–11) | Arena–Auditorium (6,617) Laramie, WY |
| Mountain West tournament ||||||
| 03/09/2016 12:00 pm, MWN | (8) | vs. (9) Utah State First round | L 70–88 | 14–18 | Thomas & Mack Center (5,970) Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||