The second time through the Mountain West schedule has not proven kind to the Wyoming Cowboys. After upsetting ranked UNLV the Cowboys have dropped three straight. With an overall record of 18-8 and 4-6 in Mountain West play the Pokes have still put together an impressive season. There are four games remaining before the conference tournament in in Vegas starts. The competition is so tough in the Mountain West right now that the Cowboys could end up finishing the regular season as high as second or as low as eighth place.

Even if the Cowboys don't win another game this year, this season will still be a success. It would be a rough a finish if that happened and I'm sure Shyatt and the players will do everything possible to make sure that doesn't happen. Every team in the Mountain West has stepped up this year and the depth is incredible. The only chance at a NCAA tournament berth for the Pokes appears to be winning the Mountain West tourney. The conference tournament will likely be the best in league history with eight very dangerous teams.

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Join us here as the Cowboys take on the sheep in Ft. Collins. Wyoming is going for the season sweep of the Border War. There should be a fair amount of brown and gold in the stands.

Join us as the Pokes seek the season sweep of Air Force.

It's taken over a month and missed playing time in nine games but PG Derrious Gilmore is back! Previously he had been ruled academically ineligible since January 9th. That was all cleared up on Tuesday night and Gilmore can play tonight against the Air Force Falcons.

The school released the following statement this morning:

Laramie, Wyo. (Feb. 15, 2012) – University of Wyoming head basketball coach Larry Shyatt announced on Wednesday that junior guard Derrious Gilmore has been cleared to play by the NCAA beginning immediately. Gilmore’s academic eligibility was reinstated by the NCAA through an appeal process. The NCAA notified the University of Wyoming Athletics Department that Gilmore’s appeal was granted late Tuesday.

Gilmore was ruled academically ineligible to play in games, beginning with Wyoming’s home game versus Idaho State on Jan. 9. He was allowed to continue to practice with the Cowboys, per NCAA rules, as he continued his education at the University of Wyoming. He missed the last nine games for the Cowboys.

Gilmore played in Wyoming’s first 15 games of the season, starting one game versus Northern Colorado on Nov. 15. He is averaging 4.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

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This was another hard fought game for the Cowboys against New Mexico. For the second time this season though the Lobos pulled away from Wyoming (18-6,4-4) over the final minutes. Even though the game ended with a 10 point spread it was a much closer contest then the final score. Wyoming led 23-19 at halftime in the grind it out contest. New Mexico (20-4,6-2) eventually was able to start hitting some shots in the second half and pulled away 29-15 in the second half.

Wyoming had the game close at 36-34 with 6:05 remaining. That was as close as the Cowboys would ever make it. This game is yet further evidence that the lack of depth on this team will make it hard for them to compete with the top teams in this conference. Only four players scored for the Pokes with Francisco Cruz leading the way with 14 points. Luke Martinez and Adam Waddell had nine points apiece. Leonard Washington only had six points but he did pull down 12 rebounds, Four of Waddell's points came in the final minutes, otherwise the Cowboys had lots of trouble trying to score inside.

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Join us as the Cowboys venture in to The Pit!. All you need is a free SB Nation account to start commenting.

The Cowboys finished the first portion of their conference schedule last week with a huge 68-66 win over #11 UNLV. That was certainly the biggest regular season win the Pokes have had in over a decade. Wyoming finished with a 4-3 record to start conference play. The Cowboys will certainly be heading to some type of postseason tournament this year but an at large berth in the NCAA tournament will require several more big wins.

The challenge lies in that all the games against better teams will now be on the road. The Cowboys start off the schedule with a visit to The Pit in Albuquerque this weekend. Other key games will be a 2/18 trip to Fort Collins, 2/22 at San Diego State and 3/3 at UNLV. I say the Pokes will need to at least split those four games to put them in solid contention for the NCAA tourney. Sweeping the season series with UNLV would make an incredible statement.

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