Wyoming Falls To TCU 58-52

The Wyoming basketball team struggled hitting open shots and taking advantage of strong interior play fromLeonard Washington and Adam Waddell while falling to TCU 58-52 in Fort Worth. "With a minute to go it was a two possession game, but we couldn't come up with a big play," UW head coach Larry Shyatt said. "We put ourselves in a good position, but we couldn't finish the job. We've won a couple big games this season by knocking in some big shots but couldn't do it tonight." Washington's scored 21 points on 8-of-10 from the field, 4-of-6 from the free throw line and 1-of-1 from deep, while he added six rebounds. Waddell scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds to go with two blocks, as the duo helped Wyoming earn a 26-24 advantage in the paint. Senior guard Francisco Cruz rounded out UW's double-digit scorers at 10 points. "We got the ball to Adam [Waddell] and Leonard [Washington] in good positions tonight and they finished for us," Shyatt said. "I can't fault the effort of this team, but tonight it was TCU just making a couple of baskets at the end of the game." Wyoming shot 41 percent (20-of-48) from the field for the game, including 30 percent (7-of-23) in the second half, and 26 percent (5-of-19) from beyond the arc. TCU connected on 45 percent (21-of-46) and 37 percent (6-of-16). Washington hit a big three to bring Wyoming back to life, as he would combined with Waddell for UW's next nine points to come within 49-47 with 6:29 left. That would be as close as the Cowboys would get, though, as TCU quickly extended the lead back to eight and held on down the stretch for the win. "We got down 11 and fought our way back, but we just had too many unforced errors tonight," Shyatt said. "We helped another team with foolish turnovers. A lot of our turnovers were fostered by plays we tried to make. You can't do that at home and can't do that on the road." The Cowboys were hurt by bench play, particularly with sixth man Larry Nance, Jr hurting because of growing pains in his knees. TCU outscored Wyoming 20-0 in bench points. TCU received thirteen points and seven rebounds from forward Craig Williams. Point guard Hank Thorns hit 3-of-4 from the arc and added 12 points to help the Horned Frog perimeter. Wyoming returns home to face No. 11/13 UNLV in the Arena-Auditorium at 2 p.m. on Saturday.