The euphoria and heartbreak of March basketball go hand in hand.
Moments of triumph.
Stages of agony.
For Sundance Wicks and the Wyoming Cowboys, their stay in Las Vegas would be short-lived as they were unable to find an avenue to a potential upset of the hometown UNLV Rebels.
A back-and-forth affair broke out early in the first half before the Rebels broke free midway through, thanks to Tyrin Jones and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn.
With 6:33 to go in the half, UNLV had managed to double up Wyoming via a 30-15 lead.
Right before intermission, Rebel Issac Williamson laced a three to extend the gap to 16, but Cowboy Nasir Meyer evened the score with a triple of his own.
A 13-point halftime deficit was not what Wicks had outlined prior to tipoff.
But in the Mountain West tournament, each team is fighting to extend its season by 40 minutes every time it takes the floor.
Wyoming still had 20 minutes of guaranteed basketball.
They made good use of that, opening the second half on a 6-0 run to trim UNLV’s lead to seven.
A brief stalemate ensued before Nasir Meyer pushed the Pokes even closer thanks to his tenacious, aggressive play when taking the rock to the basket.
The margin grew once again for UNLV, but just as before, Wyoming recomposed itself, and with 8:23 remaining, Damarion Dennis put Wyoming in front.
With 4:54 on the clock, Gavin Gores slammed home a rim-rattling dunk to recapture lost momentum and a three-point Wyoming lead.
But the Rebel pairing of Kimani Hamilton and Walter Brown wasn’t going to take no for an answer at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The former accounted for UNLV’s last seven points of the game, while Tyrin Jones swatted away a potential lead-taking layup attempt by Damarion Dennis.
Just like that, the 2025-26 Wyoming Cowboys’ Mountain West tournament had come to an end.
It was a valiant effort, but the talent of Josh Pastner’s crew was just too much in the end.
In his closing remarks, Pastner said of Sundance Wicks, “I think he’s really smart offensively and their team plays so darn hard…That’s a reflection of Sundance. He’s a high-level dude, there’s no doubt about it.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
No. 8 UNLV will play in the Mountain West quarterfinals tomorrow against No. 1 seed Utah State.
The Rebels swept the Aggies during the regular season.