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Wyoming Beats Nevada in OT Thriller

The Wolf Pack headed to Laramie and looked for a season sweep of the Cowboys, but the Cowboys had different plans.

Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports

On January 4th earlier this year the Nevada Wolf Pack beat the Wyoming Cowboys 61-58 in a game where Larry Nance Jr. had a chance to put the Cowboys ahead in the final moments. After the game, Nevada center AJ West said he did not know who Nance Jr. was going into the game.

Today in the rematch, Nance Jr. insured West knew who he was after he hit the game winning shot in overtime over West's outstretched hand to give the Cowboys a 64-62 win. The victory improved Wyoming's record to 13-6 (4-2) and dropped Nevada to 10-10 (5-2).

The key tonight for the Cowboys was to limit Nevada's star point guard Deonte Burton. Looking at the stats, Burton did have 25 points, but he missed a potential game winning three point shot as time expired in regulation. Furthermore he played a significant amount of time in the second half with four fouls after picking up his third foul late in the first half. With Burton limited, Nevada's offense struggled with sophomore Marqueze Coleman playing point guard.

Nevada had trouble in the paint all night. Nevada was beat on the boards 30-26 and offensive rebounds where a rarity for the Wolf Pack. The only thing keeping them close was efficiency from beyond the arc where the Wolf Pack shot 10-21 from three-point range.

For the Cowboys, the paint was of little issue. Nance Jr. dominated the paint with both his scoring and his rebounding finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds with 2 blocks. Sophomore guard Josh Adams also had a big game for the Cowboys filling up the box score with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal.

Both teams will play their next game on January 29th with the Nevada Wolf Pack at home against the Colorado State Rams and the Wyoming Cowboys on the road against the Fresno State Bulldogs.