Alex Taylor: Taylor Cowboys need consistency through MW gauntlet

Jan. 17—LARAMIE — Akuel Kot has been the hero of the University of Wyoming men's basketball team's first two Mountain West wins this season.

Kot has game-winning buzzer-beaters under his belt against San Jose State on Jan. 2 and in last weekend's win over Fresno State. Both shots came in eerily similar fashion at the Arena-Auditorium, and both have helped the Cowboys stay afloat in the MW standings with a 2-2 conference record.

While Kot's late-game heroics have provided a spark for UW during the early stretch of league play, it's also been a testament to the Cowboys' tendency to fall behind early and have to claw their way back.

Against SJSU, the Cowboys trailed by as much as 17 points during the first half. Against Fresno State, the Bulldogs led UW by 12 points with slightly less than 11 minutes remaining in the second half.

"We have to figure out how to put two halves together," guard Brendan Wenzel said after the Fresno State game. "... This whole season, we've been playing bad the first half, and having to come back in the second half. If we can just put those (two halves) together, we'll be really good."

The MW is absolutely loaded again this season, with six of the league's 11 teams ranked inside the top 45 of the NCAA Net rankings. It took a buzzer-beater for the Cowboys to beat the MW's lowest team in the Net rankings — Fresno State at No. 255 — on their home floor.

There weren't a lot of expectations for UW going into the season. The Cowboys were picked 10th in the MW preseason poll — ahead of only Air Force — after reassembling practically their entire roster this offseason.

Kot (Fort Lewis College), Sam Griffin (Tulsa) and Mason Walters (University of Jamestown) have been bright spots on the offensive side after transferring to UW this summer. Griffin is third in the MW in scoring at 17.8 points per game, followed by Kot in 13th at 14.8.

Walters missed the first 10 games of the season after having thumb surgery, but has aided the Cowboys in the paint with 11.7 points and 3.4 rebounds in 30.4 minutes per game.

There's one glaring problem with the Cowboys offense so far this season: Turnovers. UW is dead-last in MW play in both turnover margin (minus-5.75) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.73).

The Cowboys are ranked No. 306 in the country in turnover margin this season at minus-2.1. UW has turned the ball over 254 times in 17 games for an average of 14.9 per game, a mark that ranks No. 331 in all of NCAA Division I.

The majority of the turnovers have come from UW's backcourt, with Griffin and Kot combining for an average of 5.7 turnovers per game. Kot has the highest single-game turnover total in the MW this season with eight against Saint Louis in November, followed by Griffin's seven against Stephen F. Austin last month.

Perhaps the epitome of UW's turnover struggles was the first half Jan. 6 at New Mexico. Playing in one of the most energetic venues in all of college basketball, the Cowboys turned the ball over 18 times through the first 20 minutes, and ended the game with 23 total in the 17-point loss to the Lobos.

UW is aware of its turnover struggles, but improving in that area will be arguably the biggest key for the Cowboys to have any success against the rest of the MW over the next two months.

"Turnovers are just empty possessions, and the coaches keep preaching to us (to take care of the ball), and we're just taking it one day at a time to try and improve in that aspect," Kot told WyoSports last month. "We just have to take care of the ball and put that extra emphasis on it, just because we're a really hard team to guard if we just keep moving the ball and keep taking care of it.

"We'll be able to reach our peak eventually. We just have to take care of that aspect first."

UW's defense hasn't been much better, ranking dead-last in the conference and No. 232 in the country at 73.5 points allowed per game. The Cowboys have allowed 75 points per game through their first four conference games, a mark that ranks eighth in the MW.

The turnovers on the offensive side have led to plenty of transition baskets and quality shots from UW's opponents. The Cowboys are also last in the conference in field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot 44.7%.

UW has struggled in its basic man-to-man defense at times, and coach Jeff Linder has switched the team into a 1-3-1 zone for stretches of time over the past two games. When it comes to improving in one-on-one situations, Fullerton College transfer Kobe Newton knows it comes down to individual effort.

"You can drill, and you can do defensive drills, and you can drill it to death, but at the end of the day, it's not really about anything but your effort," Newton told WyoSports last month. "Your individual effort to keep your guy in front and not let a guy get by you and to not need help. That's what it comes down to.

"You can do as many drills as you want, but at the end of the day, it comes down to pride. It comes down to effort. It comes down to heart. It comes down to us making the mental decision that this guy isn't going to score on me, and I don't need help."

UW has shown plenty of promise in a season where it wasn't expected to compete in the MW. True freshman forward Cam Manyawu has contributed big minutes in a variety of roles this season, and the backcourt combination of Kot and Griffin have shown the potential of taking over games.

One of only three returning scholarship players from a season ago, guard Brendan Wenzel had his best game of the season against Fresno State, putting up 17 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds, two steals and a block.

The pieces are there for UW to challenge the top of the MW this conference season, especially when hosting teams at the Double-A. The team's success will come down to its ability to take care of the rock and have consistent possessions on both sides of the floor moving forward.

Alex Taylor is the assistant editor for WyoSports and covers University of Wyoming athletics. He can be reached at ataylor@wyosports.net. Follow him on X at @alex_m_taylor22.