SDSU welcomes Wyoming after a remarkable comeback win against San Jose State at Viejas Arena

Against San Jose State, the San Diego State Aztecs found themselves down 21 points in the first half. They even trailed by 16 midway through the second half. Despite the Spartan’s ability to hit the three-point shot, the Aztecs climbed back and won the game by a slim three points. Magoon Gwath, Nick Boyd, and Miles Byrd led the way.

Gwath played extremely well in both halves and was the Player of the Game for the Aztecs. He ended the night with 24 points, seven rebounds, one assist, and one block. Even more impressively, he shot 9-15 from the floor and 3-6 from beyond the arc. Over his last two games, the 7-footer is 16-22 from the field and is establishing himself as one of the top freshmen in the nation. Gwath hasn’t seen huge block numbers as of late but remains in the top 15 in the nation at 2.4 per game, placing him in a tie for the 12th most per game. The redshirt freshman leads the Mountain West by a wide margin, as the next closest is Nelly Junior Joseph at 1.5 per game.

After Wednesday’s slate of college hoops, San Diego State gained one spot in the NET rankings from 44 to 43. West Virginia dropped after their 14-point loss to Houston. Speaking of the Cougars, SDSU’s win over them in the Players Era Festival looks better and better each time Houston wins. They have won 13 straight since losing to the Aztecs and lead the Big 12 conference with an undefeated 9-0 record.

This Saturday night, the Scarlet and Black will take on a Wyoming team who continues to be a tough out in the Mountain West. The contest is at 5:00 p.m. and can be seen on CBS Sports Network as well as the Mountain West Network.

Getting to Know the Opponent: Wyoming Cowboys

The Cowboys are 11-10 this season and 4-6 in conference play, placing them 7th. They are coming off a win against Fresno State at home, 83-72. Before that loss, they fell to San Jose State on the road.

The Cowboys have impressive wins over Tulane, UNLV, Nevada, and Fullerton. In some of their losses, they competed hard and played close games. They lost to Utah State on the road in Logan by three points, lost to South Dakota by one on the road, and lost in the Cancun Challenge Championship to LMU by three points in November. The Cowboys are 7-3 at home, which is no surprise as they always play well in Laramie, and 3-5 on the road.

Obi Agbim leads the Cowboys offensively. He averages 18.1 points per game, which is 65th in the country and shoots 50.6% from the floor, tied for 101st in the country. Every other Cowboy averages below 10 points per game. Jordan Nesbitt is the next-highest scorer at 8.6 per game. He shoots just 31.8% from the floor, making it clear as to why he isn’t seeing high-scoring numbers. Nesbitt does average 7.6 rebounds as a lengthy 6-foot-6 guard. Kobe Newton is third on the team in scoring at 8.4 per game. Lastly, Dontaie Allen averages 7.1 points on just 34.3% shooting. The Cowboys are guard-heavy and rely on them for roughly 65% of the offense.

Wyoming is not a great defensive team. They average just 4.2 steals and 2.8 blocks per game as a team. Agbim averages 1.1 steals as the only consistent player on the defensive end. The Cowboys see decent team numbers defensively by allowing only 70.9 points per game, 7th in the conference, and better than almost 200 schools. Furthermore, they allow opponents to shoot 44% from the floor, eighth in the conference, and tied for 214th in the country. The one thing Wyoming is good at is not allowing many three-point shots to fall. They lead the Mountain West by allowing just 6.7 made triples per game.

Player to Watch: Obi Agbim

Agbim is, without a doubt, the top player for the Cowboys. The senior guard is a transfer for Fort Lewis College, a Division II school in Durango, Colorado.

Last season, the guard earned First Team All-South Central Region and First Team All-RMAC honors. Agbim was also named the RMAC Tournament MVP. He won the RMAC MVP after scoring 33 points in the RMAC Championship game, shooting 10-12 from the field. Agbim can score the rock and has shown he can do the same thing at Wyoming.

Agbim recently scored 17 points in the win over the Bulldogs. He hit a clutch three-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime.

OH YEAH!! Obi Agbim steps back and rises for the Buzzer Beating 3. It falls and Wyoming force OT with Fresno State where they’d win 83-72 pic.twitter.com/VTWFIzyztb

— NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Game Winners (@NCAABuzzerBters) January 29, 2025

Agbim has scored in double figures in all but just one game this season, and that was the loss to San Jose State when he scored just seven points. Agbim has scored 20+ six times this season, with a season-high of 28 in the win over Bellarmine. His 18.1 points per game is second in the conference behind Donovan Dent’s 19.6. Agbim adds 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game and shoots a whopping 47% from beyond the arc.

Key to Victory

Wyoming defends the three-ball well. It’s one of the few things they do well on a consistent basis. The Aztecs can’t fall victim to that. The Aztecs must hit timely triples and make more than Wyoming allows, which is fewer than seven per game. Byrd, Boyd, Gwath, BJ Davis, and Taj DeGourville will have opportunities to make threes, and they must make them count. In Wyoming’s last three games, all three teams they faced made six of fewer from deep.

News & Notes

• Jared Coleman-Jones will likely miss this contest again as he is day-to-day with a shoulder injury. Head coach Brian Dutcher said after the win against San Jose State that he could be available against Wyoming, but with a bye week following, the odds are they will let him rest. Miles Heide is slated to start for the third time in his career.

Chris Spiering

Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and now covers San Diego State Men’s Basketball. He also contributes regularly about the Padres. Chris is an athlete and is a huge fan of San Diego sports.