# 2021–22 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team

The 2021–22 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team represented the University of Wyoming during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by Jeff Linder 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 25–9, 13–5 in MWC play to finish in fourth place. They defeated UNLV in the quarterfinals of the MWC tournament before losing to Boise State in the semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 12 seed in the East region where they lost in the First Four to Indiana.
On February 14, 2022, the Cowboys were ranked No. 22 in the AP poll for the first time since 2015.

## Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Cowboys finished the 2020–21 season 14–11, 7–9 in Mountain West play to finish in eighth place in the conference. In the Mountain West tournament, they defeated San Jose State before losing to San Diego State in the quarterfinals.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Marcus Williams | 1 | G | 6'2' | 180 | Freshman | Dickinson, TX | Transferred to Texas A&M |
| Drew LaMont | 2 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Junior | Plantation, FL | Transferred to Georgetown (KY) |
| Kwane Marble II | 3 | G | 6'6" | 195 | Sophomore | Denver, CO | Transferred to Loyola Marymount |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Deng Dut | 2 | G | 6'4" | 192 | Junior | Melbourne, Australia | Junior college transferred from College of Southern Idaho |
| Brendan Wenzel | 5 | G | 6'7" | 203 | RS Sophomore | San Antonio, TX | Transferred from Utah in December during the 2020–21 season. Under NCAA transfer rules, Wenzel has to sit out until December and will be eligible to start in January during the 2021–22 season. |

### 2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Noah Reynolds G | Peoria, IL | Peoria Notre Dame HS | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Apr 21, 2021 |
| Recruiting 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 2021". 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 |
| Xavier DuSell | 30 | 20 | 28.0 | .356 | .327 | .767 | 2.3 | 1.0 | .5 | .1 | 7.5 |
| Deng Dut | 12 | 1 | 7.3 | .100 | .077 | .750 | .8 | 1.1 | .3 | .0 | .7 |
| Kenny Foster | 9 | 0 | 10.7 | .278 | .154 | 1.000 | 2.0 | .7 | .4 | .0 | 1.8 |
| John Grigsby | 7 | 0 | 1.8 | .286 | .167 | .000 | .3 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .7 |
| Graham Ike | 33 | 33 | 31.7 | .510 | .273 | .716 | 9.6 | 1.3 | .7 | .3 | 19.5 |
| Drake Jeffries | 34 | 34 | 36.6 | .435 | .409 | .811 | 5.4 | .7 | .6 | .5 | 10.3 |
| Hunter Maldonado | 33 | 33 | 37.3 | .495 | .250 | .711 | 5.7 | 6.3 | 1.2 | .1 | 18.5 |
| Eoin Nelson | 8 | 0 | 2.5 | 1.000 | .000 | .000 | .8 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 1.0 |
| Jeremiah Oden | 34 | 32 | 26.6 | .521 | .306 | .736 | 4.5 | .4 | .4 | .8 | 7.8 |
| Noah Reynolds | 23 | 0 | 11.2 | .373 | .417 | .565 | 1.0 | .7 | .2 | .2 | 2.9 |
| Hunter Thompson | 34 | 3 | 11.2 | .390 | .373 | .636 | 1.5 | .3 | .0 | .1 | 2.7 |
| Brendan Wenzel | 34 | 14 | 23.0 | .405 | .358 | .780 | 2.9 | .5 | .4 | .1 | 5.2 |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 10, 2021* 7:00 pm | | Detroit Mercy | W 85–47 | 1–0 | 22 – Ike | 7 – Jeffries | 9 – Maldonado | Arena-Auditorium (3,259) Laramie, WY |
| November 14, 2021* 2:00 pm | | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | W 85–45 | 2–0 | 21 – Ike | 8 – Ike | 4 – Maldonado | Arena-Auditorium (3,023) Laramie, WY |
| November 18, 2021* 9:00 p.m., P12N | | at Washington | W 77–72 $^{OT}$ | 3–0 | 26 – Ike | 10 – Tied | 2 – DuSell | Alaska Airlines Arena (5,670) Seattle, WA |
| November 22, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | at Grand Canyon | W 68–61 | 4–0 | 17 – Maldonado | 7 – Maldonado | 7 – Maldonado | GCU Arena (6,872) Phoenix, AZ |
| November 28, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | Hastings | W 108–59 | 5–0 | 33 – Jeffries | 10 – Ike | 7 – Dut | Arena-Auditorium (3,291) Laramie, WY |
| November 29, 2021* 8:00 pm | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 79–66 | 6–0 | 21 – Maldonado | 9 – Ike | 9 – Maldonado | Titan Gym (772) Fullerton, CA |
| December 2, 2021* 7:00 pm | | Denver | W 77–64 | 7–0 | 35 – Ike | 14 – Ike | 4 – DuSell | Arena-Auditorium (4,030) Laramie, WY |
| December 4, 2021* 2:00 pm | | McNeese State | W 79–58 | 8–0 | 20 – Maldonado | 10 – Ike & Oden | 5 – Maldonado | Arena-Auditorium (3,726) Laramie, WY |
| December 8, 2021* 8:00 p.m., P12N | | at No. 11 Arizona | L 65–94 | 8–1 | 22 – DuSell | 4 – Tied | 4 – Maldonado | McKale Center (13,077) Tucson, AZ |
| December 11, 2021* 8:00 pm | | Utah Valley | W 74–62 | 9–1 | 16 – DuSell | 9 – Ike | 5 – Maldonado | Arena-Auditorium (3,927) Laramie, WY |
| December 22, 2021* 3:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Stanford Diamond Head Classic Quarterfinals | L 63–66 | 9–2 | 25 – Ike | 11 – Ike | 8 – Maldonado | Stan Sheriff Center (4,041) Honoulu, HI |
| December 23, 2021* 4:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Northern Iowa Diamond Head Classic Consolation 2nd Round | W 71–69 | 10–2 | 17 – Maldonado | 7 – Maldonado | 6 – Maldonado | Stan Sheriff Center (3,951) Honolulu, HI |
| December 25, 2021* 11:30 am, ESPNU | | vs. South Florida Diamond Head Classic 5th Place Game | W 77–57 | 11–2 | 22 – Maldonado | 7 – Ike | 10 – Maldonado | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI |
| Mountain West regular season |||||||||
| January 15, 2022 7:00 pm, Stadium | | at Utah State | W 71–69 | 12–2 (1–0) | 23 – Ike | 8 – Ike | 6 – Maldonado | Smith Spectrum (8,109) Logan, UT |
| January 17, 2022 6:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Nevada Rescheduled from January 4 | W 77–67 | 13–2 (2–0) | 24 – Ike | 11 – Ike | 11 – Maldonado | Lawlor Events Center (6,369) Reno, NV |
| January 19, 2022 7:00 p.m., MW Network/ATTSN | | San José State | W 84–69 | 14–2 (3–0) | 20 – Maldonado | 8 – Oden | 12 – Maldonado | Arena-Auditorium (4,371) Laramie, WY |
| January 22, 2022 5:30 p.m., CBSSN | | New Mexico | W 93–91 | 15–2 (4–0) | 29 – Ike | 15 – Ike | 7 – Maldonado | Arena-Auditorium (5,368) Laramie, WY |
| January 25, 2022 7:00 p.m., Stadium | | at Boise State | L 62–65 | 15–3 (4–1) | 19 – Ike | 9 – Ike | 5 – Maldonado | ExtraMile Arena (8,292) Boise, ID |
| January 28, 2022 4:00 p.m., MW Network | | at Air Force | W 63–61 | 16–3 (5–1) | 31 – Maldonado | 9 – Ike | 4 – Maldonado | Clune Arena (1,702) Colorado Springs, CO |
| January 31, 2022 6:00 p.m., FS1 | | Colorado State Border War | W 84–78 $^{OT}$ | 17–3 (6–1) | 35 – Maldonado | 8 – Ike | 7 – Maldonado | Arena-Auditorium (7,539) Laramie, WY |
| February 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., MW Network | | Boise State Rescheduled from January 1 | W 72–65 | 18–3 (7–1) | 33 – Ike | 10 – Tied | 7 – Maldonado | Arena-Auditorium (7,063) Laramie, WY |
| February 6, 2022 5:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Fresno State Rescheduled from January 8 | W 61–59 | 19–3 (8–1) | 21 – Maldonado | 9 – Jeffries | 6 – Maldonado | Save Mart Center (6,017) Fresno, CA |
| February 8, 2022 7:00 p.m., Stadium | | Utah State | W 78–76 $^{OT}$ | 20–3 (9–1) | 28 – Ike | 13 – Jeffries | 5 – Maldonado | Arena-Auditorium (5,558) Laramie, WY |
| February 12, 2022 7:00 p.m., Stadium | | at San José State | W 74–52 | 21–3 (10–1) | 25 – Ike | 18 – Ike | 5 – Maldonado | Provident Credit Union Event Center (2,251) San Jose, CA |
| February 15, 2022 7:00 p.m., Stadium | No. 22 | at New Mexico | L 66–75 | 21–4 (10–2) | 26 – Ike | 7 – Ike | 4 – Maldonado | The Pit (8,208) Albuquerque, NM |
| February 19, 2022 2:00 p.m., MW Network/ATTSN | No. 22 | Air Force | W 75–67 | 22–4 (11–2) | 29 – Maldonado | 12 – Ike | 8 – Maldonado | Arena-Auditorium (8,312) Laramie, WY |
| February 23, 2022 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Colorado State Border War | L 55–61 | 22–5 (11–3) | 22 – Jefferies | 13 – Ike | 3 – Tied | Moby Arena (8,085) Fort Collins, CO |
| February 26, 2022 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Nevada | W 74–61 | 23–5 (12–3) | 23 – Ike | 15 – Ike | 6 – Maldonado | Arena-Auditorium (7,855) Laramie, WY |
| February 28, 2022 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | San Diego State | L 66–73 | 23–6 (12–4) | 17 – Oden | 11 – Maldonado | 11 – Maldonado | Arena-Auditorium (5,438) Laramie, WY |
| March 2, 2022 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | at UNLV | L 57–64 | 23–7 (12–5) | 22 – Maldonado | 10 – Maldonado | 7 – Maldonado | Thomas & Mack Center (6,204) Paradise, NV |
| March 5, 2022 2:00 p.m., Stadium | | Fresno State | W 68–64 $^{OT}$ | 24–7 (13–5) | 21 – DuSell | 8 – Ike | 8 – Maldonado | Arena-Auditorium (6,230) Laramie, WY |
| Mountain West tournament |||||||||
| March 10, 2022 3:30 p.m., CBSSN | (4) | at (5) UNLV Quarterfinals | W 59–56 | 25–7 | 12 – Wenzel | 13 – Ike | 5 – Maldonado | Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, NV |
| March 11, 2022 7:30 p.m., CBSSN | (4) | vs. (1) Boise State Semifinals | L 61–68 | 25–8 | 18 – Ike | 9 – Maldonado | 5 – Maldonado | Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 15, 2022 7:10 pm, TruTV | (12 E) | vs. (12 E) Indiana First Four | L 58–66 | 25–9 | 21 – Maldonado | 10 – Jeffries | 5 – Maldonado | UD Arena (12,522) Dayton, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. |||||||||
Source