By Nathan Canilao (@nathancanilao)- Spear Beat Reporter
The San Jose State men’s basketball team defeated Wyoming 84-64, defeating the Cowboys for the first time since 2016.
Junior shooting guard Omari Moore tied his career high as he recorded 29 points while going 5-for-10 from deep. Senior forward Sage Tolbert III scored 14 points.
The Spartans outscored the Cowboys in points off turnovers 31-9 and forced 17 turnovers.
“Wyoming is a good program. They’ve been good for my whole time here,” Moore said. “So this is actually my first time beating them, so it’s definitely good for the program.”
At the 15:45 mark of the first half, Tolbert III had a huge dunk that gave SJSU an early jolt to start the game.
“I knew [the dunk] was gonna work but you know I didn’t think it’s gonna be defended. Sorry for him,” Tolbert III said.
After SJSU took an early lead, Wyoming went on an 11-0 run that tied the game at 16. SJSU went on a 9-0 run to take back control of the game.
At the end of the first half, SJSU led 39-28. Tolbert III and Moore had 14 points each to lead SJSU.
The Spartans held the Cowboys to just 40% from the field and 36% from behind the arc.
SJSU had a tough time guarding Wyoming guard Hunter Maldanado to start the second half. Maldanado scored 11 straight points for the Cowboys coming out of the second half.
Wyoming cut the Spartan lead to just six with 16:06 left in the second half, but a 23-12 by SJSU put the Cowboys away for good.
Moore did more than score on the floor as he also dished out six assists and grabbed six rebounds. Moore was one-point shy of breaking his career-high in points.
This night was especially big for Moore as he was honored before the game for reaching his 1,000 career point last Saturday against San Diego State.
“That’s a super cool milestone for him,” said SJSU head coach Tim Miles. I think only 17 guys have done it in program history. That’s pretty special. That’s rare.”
The Spartans’ win snap a 12-game losing streak to Wyoming and capture their first win over the Cowboys since 2016. The win also gave the Spartans the most wins in a season since joining the Mountain West in 2013.
SJSU will face Fresno State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
