Wyoming's Luke Martinez suspended indefinitely

Multiple outlets are reporting Monday morning that Wyoming Cowboys' Luke Martinez has been suspended indefinitely by the school after charges were filed this weekend against the senior, who was involved in an off-campus altercation on Dec. 30, 2012, as reported by MW Connection's Jeremy Mauss on Jan. 10.

The University of Wyoming Sports Information released this statement:

University of Wyoming head basketball coach Larry Shyatt announced Monday that men’s basketball player Luke Martinez has been suspended indefinitely from the Wyoming basketball team. Charges were filed against Martinez this weekend in connection with an off-campus incident that Martinez was involved in on Dec. 30, 2012.

As Martinez’ suspension involves on-going legal action, neither Coach Shyatt nor any other UW official will have any further comment.

The Casper Star-Tribune reported Monday morning that Martinez has traveled with the team and has been sitting on the bench since the incident and recapped the details of the incident:

Martinez was involved in bar fight at the Buckhorn the morning of Dec. 30, Laramie police recently told the Star-Tribune. He was injured in that altercation, breaking the fourth metacarpal in his right hand. UW's second leading scorer has missed three consecutive games due to the injury (he is in a cast and is expected to have an X-Ray today), but was supposed to return the lineup after he healed...

Cushman said he had no details as to how the fight started at that time, but said no arrests had been made and no charges had been filed. That has since changed, according to Wyoming's release.

According to his profile on the official Wyoming website, Martinez was a transfer from North Dakota's Williston State College where he earned second team All-America honors for NJCAA Division I following his sophomore season in 2009-10. Martinez played his high school ball at Bismarck High School in Bismarck, N.D.

Before his suspension the 6-foot-4 guard was averaging 14.5 points per game and 3 rebounds per game, averaging 30.5 minutes per game - making him the team's second best scorer behind Leonard Washington's 14.9 PPG. For the season, Martinez had a shooting percentage of 45.4% from the field and 42.2% from three point range.

Wyoming, which was ranked No. 25 in the Coaches poll last week and is now 14-1 for the season, is 1-1 in MWC play since Martinez was suspended. UW lost to the Boise St. Broncos 63-61 Wednesday to fall from the ranks of the undefeated then and defeated the Nevada Wolf Pack 59-48 in Reno Saturday.

The Cowboys travel to Fresno Wednesday to play the Fresno St. Bulldogs then play the league leading San Diego St. Aztecs Saturday in Laramie.