FORT COLLINS, Colo. — It was weird. It was wild. It was a Wyoming win — the Cowboys first against Colorado State in the Allen Edwards era.
After appearing asleep for most of the second half, an out-of-nowhere 26-10 run took the Pokes to overtime for their third straight game. Then, they reached double overtime for the second time in their last three games.
At the end of it all, Wyoming earned its fourth straight win, 91-86 at Moby Arena.
A pair of Justin James 3-pointers, drained within 24 seconds of one another after he had missed his first four, ignited Wyoming's second-half run. Despite taking a lead into halftime following an impressive run, Wyoming played lethargically for much of the second half, falling behind as many as 16.
But after flipping the response, Wyoming had a chance to win the game before overtime ever arrived. Alan Herndon had the ball stolen from him on Wyoming's potential go-ahead possession, though. After Che Bob's bucket on the other end, however, Nyaires Redding answered with a 3-pointer. An Anthony Bonner travel gave Wyoming a chance to take the lead with 1.6 seconds remaining, but Hayden Dalton's 3-point attempt did not produce the foul call he wanted.
Neither team led by more than two points in the first overtime. Wyoming's only two field goals were 3-pointers, but Dalton's with 1:28 to play was answered with a Deion James free throw to tie the game. James missed the second, and Redding's go-ahead 3 did not fall. Anthony Bonner attempted a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but it rimmed out.
Much like a year ago, the Cowboys got off to a cold start in Fort Collins. After Justin James' jumper to open the game, Wyoming missed its next eight shots to fall behind 15-2 during a 6:15 scoring drought. Wyoming, which had scoring droughts of more than 13 and nearly 10 minutes against the Rams in Laramie, trailed 14-2 to start last year's Border War in Colorado.
Dalton ended Wyoming's scoreless run with a 3-pointer. He eventually scored a team-high 12 points in the first half to keep the Cowboys afloat. But the Rams' lead stretched to 14 after a trio of Colorado State 3-pointers, and Edwards called a timeout with 10:04 left in the half. Wyoming responded with a 22-6 run to take the lead into halftime.
Herndon gave Wyoming its first lead since 2-0 with a three-point play after Edwards called another timeout with 20.6 seconds remaining in the half.
Colorado State began the second half in a similar fashion to the first, scoring five quick points and then using a 14-4 run to take a double-digit lead. Edwards was again forced to call a timeout down 49-39 with 12:38 to play. The lead extended to 62-46 before a pair of James free throws began the Cowboys' run.
The Rams were playing without their two leading scorers, as Prentiss Nixon (ankle) and J.D. Paige (broken hand) were inactive. The duo averages a combined 28.3 points per game.
Colorado State has now lost five straight games. Wyoming hosts Fresno State on Saturday.