I don’t think Wyoming’s 74-56 loss came as a surprise.

UNLV is just better and it showed why. It’s defensive pressure forced 16 first-half turnovers that resulted in 22 points. UW trailed 44-23 at the break and it was pretty much over at that point.

It was disheartening to see sophomore point guard JayDee Luster go down in the first half with a groin injury. He didn’t return and really looked in a lot of pain on the bench. He kept ice on it the rest of the game. Luster has had shoulder, ankle and now groin injuries this season. His absence, as well as foul trouble for freshman guard Desmar Jackson, were factors in UW’s turnover trouble.

Other thoughts and notes from the game:

–Junior forward Djibril Thiam had his second-career double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. He scored UW’s first nine points, and had a ball fake on a UNLV player that resulted in a nice basket that even drew awes from the UNLV fans.

–Sophmore center Adam Waddell had just one point and four rebounds. Wasn’t much of a factor in the game at all.

–After four 3-pointers and 12 points Tuesday against Air Force, senior forward Ryan Dermody played just nine minutes and missed his only shot.

–Four players — Jackson (21), Thiam (13), freshman Amath M’Baye (13) and freshman Daylen Harrison (eight) scored 55 of UW’s 56 points.

–UW had just six assists on its 21 field goals.

For more on the game, and pairings for the upcoming MWC Tournament, see Sunday’s paper.

The Wyoming Cowboys lost at UNLV 74-56 Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

True freshman guard Desmar Jackson led UW with 21 points. Junior forward Djibril Thiam had 13 points and 13 rebounds.

UW fell to 10-20 overall and 3-13 in the Mountain West. UNLV improved 23-7, 11-5.

Wyoming made only nine shots and committed 16 turnovers as it trails UNLV 44-23 at halftime Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Sophomore point guard JayDee Luster suffered a groin injury and didn’t return.

Junior forward Djibril Thiam scored UW’s first nine points of the game and is the Cowboys’ leading scorer.

Junior guard Tre’Von Willis leads UNLV with 13 points.

1. Don’t be in awe: Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said his team got caught up in the atmosphere at The Pit in New Mexico last month in UW’s 22-point loss (that could have been a lot worse). The Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas is one of those places when it’s packed and UNLV is playing well, and both will occur Saturday. UW can’t beat itself by being intimidated by its surroundings.

2. Handle pressure: UNLV won’t pressure UW defensively full-court the entire game, but its defensive pressure, especially in the half-court game, is arguably the best in the Mountain West. The Cowboys must do a better job of handling that than it did in their 78-50 home loss to UNLV on Feb. 3.

3. Super start: UW can’t fall behind 10-0 or 11-0 like it did in recent games against BYU and New Mexico. A good start won’t guarantee a win, but will at least give UW a shot to stay in the game.

4. Shaw-shank redemption: Senior forward Matt Shaw came off the bench in the first game against UW and scored 16 points and was dominant inside. UNLV has a lot of weapons, but if Shaw has a big game again the Cowboys will be hard-pressed to defend anyone else. That will be tough as sophomore centers Adam Waddell (knee and ankle) and Boubacar Sylla (foot) remain limited. Junior Djibril Thiam and true freshman Amath M’Baye must play well inside.

5. Defend the 3: UNLV hasn’t played in a week and is coming off one of its best perimeter shooting games in its 30-points win over Air Force last Saturday. UNLV is tough to beat all the time, but if its making 3s that task becomes nearly impossible. The Cowboys must play good perimeter defense (and hopefully rebound the misses).

Wyoming sophomore center Adam Waddell re-injured his left ankle in practice Thursday morning, but associate head coach Fred Langley said Waddell expects to play in the Cowboys’ regular-season finale Saturday at UNLV.

Waddell first hurt the ankle Jan. 27 against Utah, and has been limited in both playing and practicing since then. In fact, he hasn’t practiced much opting to rest and treat the ankle so he can ply in games.

“Adam came in (Wednesday) and said his timing was off and wanted to practice to get his timing back,” UW associate head coach Fred Langley said. “About half-way through practice he came down on (sophomore center Boubacar Sylla’s foot) and twisted the ankle again.

“About 10 minutes later he got back in there but was hobbling worse than he was before so we shut him down. … I went over and talked to him and asked how bad it was and he said ‘Coach, I’m playing. I don’t want to talk about it. I’m playing.’ ”

Waddell averaged 9.7 ponits and 5.5 rebounds per game, but over the last six game he’s averaged six points and 2.7 rebounds, including just two boards in each of the last five contests.

UW coach Heath Schroyer wasn’t available for comment Thursday as he was on the road recruiting.

The UNLV men’s basketball program picked up a big in in a different form this week. Check out Ed Graney’s column in the Las Vegas Review-Journal about it.

Wyoming plays at UNLV Saturday.

After reading the article, do you think this is something UW needs or should have?

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/unlv-long-overdue-for-new-basketball-digs-86321087.html