Wicks Issues Challenge: ‘Who Wants to Play One More Day?’
LARAMIE -- There was just something different about that bus ride.
In the midst of a three-game skid, the latest a lopsided 16-point setback against its most-hated rival, Colorado State, Sundance Wicks said his team arrived in Las Vegas in late January with a noticeable "pep" in their collective step.
Odd, considering Wyoming hadn't won a regular-season game against UNLV inside the Thomas and Mack Center since 2003. That was a forgettable string of 18 straight losses.
"I'd never seen our team more excited to be in the gym," Wicks recalled. "... Then they go out there and they played with their hair on fire against UNLV. Like the most hair-on-fire experience I've seen all year from this team, as far as what they wanted to do and how they wanted to get that win."
The Cowboys splashed 14 triples that night. Obi Agbim was responsible for five of those. The senior guard capped that outing with a team-high 19 points in the 63-61 upset.
That streak -- all 8,025 days of it -- is now in the rear-view mirror.
"I hold onto that memory in a lot of ways," Wicks continued. "... Watching our guys, hearing them walk into that arena and say, 'We gotta learn how to win on this floor.'"
The rallying cry has now shifted to "Why not us?" with the Mountain West Tournament -- inside that very same venue -- just five short days away.
Call it irrational confidence. Wicks does.
Believe it or not, though, there are reasons to believe.
Losers of nine of their last 10, these Cowboys have taken nearly all the heavy hitters in this conference to the deep end of the pool. New Mexico, Utah State and San Diego State -- in all six meetings -- latched onto the life preserver late.
So did San Jose State, Wyoming's opening-round opponent in Sin City.
"We may go down in history as the team that almost beat everybody," Wicks joked last week.
There's still time to change that narrative, though, he added.
Wicks said though he is still searching for the soul of this roster, it could be coming at just the right time. Why the faith? There's nothing quite as final as the end of the season, he added. Or, for at least six of these guys, a career.
A challenge has been issued: "Who wants to play one more day?"
Cole Henry certainly does.
"I'm crazy optimistic," the senior forward said on Friday morning. "I don't want my season to end. I don't want my career to end. This has been an incredible journey for me, and I want it to last as long as I can."
Just being inked into that postseason bracket -- eighth seed, be damned -- means one thing to the bench boss: There's hope. Wyoming at least has a "chip and a chair," Wicks said with his trademark grin.
He pointed to Oregon State's unthinkable run to the Elite Eight in 2021 and last spring's Final Four appearance by a North Carolina State squad that finished two games under .500 in ACC play.
You never know.
"All you have to do is, you have to find that soulful connection where they just want to stay and want to play one more day," Wicks said. "If you can find that, man, that's what makes conference tournament time special."
Tipoff between the Cowboys and Spartans is slated for Wednesday at 12 p.m. Mountain Time and the game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network. The winner will take on regular-season champion New Mexico the following day at 1 p.m.