(Laramie, WY) – The Wyoming Cowboys will host the Colorado State in the first edition of the Border War this season on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium. The contest will be streamed on the Mountain West Network. It will mark the first time in conference play that fans will be allowed in the Arena-Auditorium, as 2,000 tickets are available.
For more information regarding tickets for Thursday’s game, visit GoWyo.com/Tickets; email tickets@uwyo.edu; call 307-766-7220; or stop by the UW Athletics Ticket Office on the west side of the Arena-Auditorium located on Willett Drive.
Fans can listen to the contest, as well as follow stats on GoWyo.com. The contest will be broadcast live on radio over the 26 affiliate stations of the Cowboy Sports Network, as Reece Monaco will have the call with Kevin McKinney on color.
About The Teams
The Cowboys head into the contest with a 10-7 overall record and a 4-6 mark in conference play. Wyoming ranks first in the MW and No. 15 in the nation in three pointers per game at 10.1. Wyoming has hit 171 threes this season, which ranks No. 14 in the nation. Wyoming is second in the conference in free throws made this season at 255, which ranks No. 27 in the nation.
The Rams are 12-3 on the season and own a 9-3 record in the MW. Colorado State ranks No. 45 in the NCAA NET Rankings. Colorado State leads the MW in field goal percentage at 47.6 percent. CSU leads the conference in three-point field goal defense at 30.4 percent, which ranks No. 57 in the nation. Colorado State ranks second in the conference shooting 39 percent from behind the arc.
About The Players
Wyoming is led in scoring by Marcus Williams at 16.3 points per game, which ranks fifth in the conference. He ranks in the top-five in freshmen scoring in the nation this season. He also adds 4.1 assists per game to rank fourth in conference. Junior Hunter Maldonado adds 12.3 points per game and 6.1 rebounds to lead the team. He ranks ninth in the conference in rebounding this season. He also adds 4.9 assists per game to rank third in the MW and No. 62 in the nation.
Colorado State is led in scoring by David Roddy at 16 points per game to rank sixth in the MW. He also leads the team in rebounding at 9.3 per game to rank third in the conference. Isaiah Stevens adds 15.5 points per game and adds 6.6 assists per night, as he leads the conference and ranks No. 11 in the nation.
About The Series
Wyoming and Colorado State will meet for the 234th time on Thursday. Wyoming is 136-98 all-time against the Rams in a series that dates back to 1911. Wyoming owns a 78-38 record against Colorado State in Laramie.
Up Next
Wyoming and Colorado State wrap up their season series on Saturday. The game is slated for a 4 p.m. start and will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
——- COWGIRLS ——–
The Wyoming Cowgirls travel to Border Rival and conference-leading Colorado State Thursday and Saturday for contests. Thursday’s game tips off at 6 p.m., while Saturday’s contest is set for 1 p.m. It will be the Cowgirls’ final road trip of the regular season due to San Jose State opting out of the rest of the season earlier this year.
Both games will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network and can be heard across the 25 stations of the Cowgirl Radio Network with Keith Kelley on the call.
A LOOK AT THE COWGIRLS
Wyoming (8-7, 6-6 MW) is coming off a series sweep last week over San Diego State at home, defeating the Aztecs 54-36 in game one and 62-41 in the second game. The 36 points allowed in game one was the best defensive scoring performance of the season for the Cowgirls while 21-point margin of victory in game two was also a season-best. The Cowgirls are first in the Mountain West in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score just 59.5 points per game.
UW shot 48 percent from the field in the game two win against SDSU while making 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from 3-point range and scoring 30 points in the paint. A total of 10 Cowgirls scored in the game two victory.
Dagny Davidsdottir and Marta Savic dominated inside in the Cowgirls’ game on win. The duo both recorded career-highs in the victory. Davidsdottir tallied 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting while Savic went 6-for-6 and scored 12 points in just nine minutes of action. UW outscored the Aztecs 74-18 in the paint in the two games.
Alba Sanchez Ramos continues to lead the Cowgirls in scoring on the season, averaging 11.1 points per game. Sanchez Ramos is third on the team averaging 5.1 rebounds per game and is averaging eight boards per game over the last three contests. Tommi Olson ranks in the top five in the league in five different categories this season. Olson ranks second in the MW in both assists (71) and assists per game (4.7) and is fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.97). Olson also ranks third in total steals with 28 and fifth in steals per game at 1.87.
SCOUTING COLORADO STATE
Conference-leading Colorado State is led by a trio scoring nearly 13-plus points per game on the year. Lore Devos leads the Rams and is seventh in the league averaging 14.1 points per game and also leads CSU averaging 7.4 rebounds per game and has 21 total blocks. McKenna Hofschild is averaging 13.4 points per game and leads the MW in both total assists (90) and assists per game (6.4). Tori Williams comes in at 12.9 points per game and has a team-high 25 steals and is second on the squad with 42 assists.
CSU has a high-octane offense, averaging 83.6 points per game on the season, a mark that ranks second in the conference. The Rams are allowing 66.4 points per game, which ranks fourth and their 17.2 scoring margin is tops in the league by a wide margin. CSU is tops in the league in both field goal percentage (47 percent), 3-point percentage (40.1 percent) and defensive field goal percentage (37.4 percent), the Rams also rank second in the MW in defensive 3-point percentage at 28.4 percent.
Ryun Williams is in his ninth season as the head coach of the Rams and has guided CSU to a perfect 7-0 record at home so far in 2020-21.
SERIES AGAINST COLORADO STATE
The two border rivals have had a hard-fought series history, with UW holding a slim 53-51 lead all-time in the series’ long-storied history. The Cowgirls are 21-25 all-time in Fort Collins and are currently on a three-game winning streak on the road, including a 43-40 victory last season.