Wyoming Cowboy Basketball Announces 2012-2013 Schedule

The University of Wyoming men’s basketball team announced its 2012-13 schedule today. The Cowboys’ third season under head coach Larry Shyatt will feature eight Mountain West home games, in addition to 10 home games during the non-conference schedule. Game times and additional television games will be released at a later date.

Shyatt returned to Laramie last season to guide UW to a 6-8 conference record for sixth place in the tightly-contest MW. This season’s schedule will remain a double round robin format with each team playing two games per week, but will have 16 MW games with the additions of Fresno State and Nevada.

UW’s conference slate in the Arena-Auditorium is highlighted by Saturday showdowns with last season’s MW regular-season champions San Diego State (Jan. 19) and UNLV (Feb. 23), Front Range foe Air Force (Jan. 26) and MW newcomer Fresno State (Feb. 16). The Pokes knocked off the No. 11/13 Rebels, 68-66, at home on a Saturday last February. Wyoming concludes the MW regular season in the AA against archrival Colorado State on Wednesday, March 6.

The non-conference schedule also features several quality home opponents. The Pokes welcome long-time foe Colorado to the Arena-Auditorium for the first time since 2007 on Saturday, Dec. 1 and battle another Front Range program against Denver on Tuesday, Dec. 18. UW hosts the Global Sports Hoops Showcase on Wednesday, Nov. 14, through Friday, Nov. 16 against South Dakota, Southern University and North Carolina Central. Two games will be played each day. California programs CSU Bakersfield and UC Santa Barbara visit Laramie on Saturday, Nov. 24 and Friday, Dec. 21, respectively.

Coach Shyatt said,

“This schedule will be a great challenge for our young team this season, The non-conference schedule has a good balance against quality opponents, which will help us prepare for yet another challenging Mountain West conference schedule. Our fans will have plenty of chances to pack the AA again, and that’s what we need. We need our fans to get that building rocking again.”

UW’s three other home conference games will be played on Wednesdays versus Boise State (Jan. 9), MW tournament champion New Mexico (Jan. 30) and MW newcomer Nevada (Feb. 13). Road games on the conference schedule within driving distance include at Colorado State (Feb. 2), at Air Force (Feb. 27) and at New Mexico (March 2). Noteworthy road games during the non-conference schedule include at Northern Colorado (Nov. 21) and at SMU (Jan. 2). Wyoming begins the season by hosting Fort Lewis College for an exhibition game on Wednesday, Oct. 31 in Ethete, Wyo. A collaboration between the Cowboys and the Nike N7 program, the contest will be played at the Wyoming Indian High School on the Wind River Reservation.

The Mountain West Championship will once again be held at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The Lobos will look to defend their tournament title from Tuesday, March 12, to Saturday, March 16.

Fans can purchase season tickets by calling the Wyoming Athletics Ticket Office at 877-WYO-FAN1 (877-996-3261) or going online at WyomingAthletics.com. Season tickets renewals must be done by Friday, Aug. 24.