Wade Payne - AP

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For 15 minutes it looked as if the Wyoming Cowboys were on their way to a stunning upset over the #8 Tennessee Volunteers.  Wyoming started with a 7-0 lead before Tennessee came back to tie the game but the Cowboys kept fighting and surged to a 35-25 with 5:30 remaining in the first half.  The Vols clawed their way back and took a 42-41 lead at halftime. 

Coach Bruce Pearl gave his team one heck of a pep talk as they came storming out of the gates to start the second half.  They turned the pressure up on defense and outscored Wyoming 35-17 in the second half en route to a 77-58 victory.  Tennessee improved to 8-1 on the season while Wyoming drops back to .500 and now sits at 5-5.

The Cowboys are typically a terrible three point shooting team but they actually had some success early on from long range.  Afam Muojeke and Ryan Dermody both hit two treys early and they 4 for 7 early on.  That early success probably hurt the Pokes as they continued to shoot from long range and missed their last 12 attempts finishing 4 for 21 for the game.

Ball control was issue all night for Wyoming with 16 turnovers in the first half and 29 for the game.  Afam Muojeke just needed three more rebounds for a triple double: 15 points 7 rebounds and 10 turnovers.  Muojeke shot 4 for 15 from the field and was 2 for 11 on three pointers.

Scotty Hopson was a spark plug in the second half for the Vols and led the team with 14 points.  Tyler Smith finished with 10 points and 4 assists.   Tennessee shot 47% from the field but knocked down only 4 of 20 three pointers.