Travis Kriens

The talk coming into the 2009-10 men’s basketball season was how the Jacks were now an experienced team and were ready to take the next step in becoming a competitive team. They took a step in that direction on Nov. 13 with a season-opening win at Wyoming, 77-61.

To say the game was as close as the 16-point difference would be misleading. SDSU had a 45-25 lead at halftime and led by as many at 28 points with 6:30 left in the game.

“The key for us was getting (Wyoming) out of the fast break because they’re so much bigger and more athletic than us,” said SDSU head coach Scott Nagy. “If we could get (Wyoming) into the half court, get in and make them shoot the ball from the outside, I knew that we had a chance.”

On the other hand, SDSU was 8-for-13 on three-pointers in the first half, led by junior guard Clint Sargent, who scored 15 of his team-high 18 points in the first half on 5-of-7 in threes. The Jacks were also just as good from beyond the three-point line, 52.4%, as they were from two at 52.7%.

“We have some pretty tough kids, and we shoot the ball pretty well. That’s what gave us the lead,” Nagy said.

The Jacks got off to a fast 15-4 start, and Wyoming wouldn’t get closer than ten points after the first ten minutes of the game.

“(The Jacks) are a good, veteran group,” said Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer. “They ran a lot of sets that they didn’t show on exhibition film, and they kind of put us on our heels. They are a good team, and we played like freshmen and newcomers. We kind of had the deer-in-the-headlight look.”

Senior Kai Williams, who has been hampered all preseason with a knee injury, came off the bench and contributed 17 points and two steals in just 18 minutes. Garrett Callahan was the third Jackrabbit in double figures with 11 points, while Anthony Cordova did well against the length of Wyoming by grabbing a game-high seven rebounds.

This was the worst home loss by the Cowboys since the 2004-05 season. That year, the Pokes lost at home to Utah by 25 points, 74-49.