Wyoming

[PantherLou]

This is a pretty good team (I think), but I really know nothing about them. Let's start the banter.


Schedule and results for Wyoming thus far:

wyomingathletics.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/wyo-m-baskbl-sched.html

[PANTHERfan]

they've lost to a pretty bad Princeton team at Princeton... lost to Wilmington and SIU at home. we all know Wilmington has a solid club and the jury is out on SIU (they lost to St. Louis by something like 14 points).
looks like Wyoming's leading scorer is a big man. their roster certainly shows some size. seems to me it's a winnable game but it won't be easy. one thing working to our advantage is it's going to be winter break so i'd imagine the crowd will be pretty down.

[Pantherholic]

pantherfan said:

their roster certainly shows some size.

that's definitely an understatement. only three guys under 6'5". interesting stat on the SIU game: WY's top scorer had 9 points. perhaps another defensive assault like the Hawaii game?

[teddyp00]

Have not looked at the roster yet, but size does not always really matter. We have played few teams so far that were smaller than us and I think the biggest test against size we got already at Wisconsin and our guys held up pretty well I thought.

[PantherLou]

Hawaii was also bigger than us, and we seemed to handle it well.

Now, big and athletic (see:Memphis) and we may have a problem.

[uwmfutbol]

I'm a lot more worried about Montana, but since this is a road game it's definitely on my radar.

[dylanrocks]

To put it bluntly, everyone will have a problem with Memphis. Did the Tigers switch uniforms with the Grizzlies?

[JimmyLemke]

I dunno, Dylan, but it seems to me that basketball is having a bit of a renaissance in Tennessee.

What with Pearl taking UT to 6-1 and Memphis doing just fine. Even the Grizzlies are in the upper echelon of their conference. Pat Summit never dropped off, but now there's no tough UConn team in her way...

Of course, to have a renaissance, there had to have been an old strong period, which, to the best of my knowledge, never happened.

[Pantherholic]

J/S preview:

Panthers have reached higher ground

Talk about living the high life.

The UW-Milwaukee men's basketball team will be doing just that tonight as it faces Wyoming in Laramie, Wyo., at the Arena-Auditorium.

The building sits 7,220 feet above sea level.

The Cowboys have used all sorts of intimidating monikers for their home, such as "Dome of Doom."

Panthers coach Rob Jeter, though, isn't buying into the elevation hype.

"The people that live there talk about it trying to psych people out, but it's not a factor," Jeter said.

Jeter prefers to view the next two contests - at Wyoming at 8 tonight and at Montana at 8 p.m. Friday - just like the other road games on the schedule.

UW-Milwaukee (6-3) has been on an upswing with five victories in the last six games.

While much-heralded senior forward Joah Tucker has been up and down offensively, senior guard Boo Davis and senior forward Adrian Tigert have been a steadying influence in that stretch.

Yet the Cowboys (6-4) may pose matchup problems similar to what Memphis did in the disastrous season-opener.

Wyoming has one of the nation's leading shot-blockers in 6-foot-10 senior forward Justin Williams (5.7 blocks per game) and a dynamic swing man in junior Steve Leven (13.7 points per game).

Montana (10-1), meanwhile, is riding a 10-game winning streak.

Jeter doesn't expect anything to be easy but believes the Panthers will be prepared to handle what's ahead.

"Both teams are used to winning, so it's going to be difficult to go in there and get these wins," he said. "But it's going to be a good test for us coming into our conference season."

[PANTHERfan]

anyone find an active Wyoming chat board? i've tried their scout and rival boards but they're pretty dead and focused mostly on football.

[mwu]

pantherfan said:

.....it's going to be winter break so i'd imagine the crowd will be pretty down.

i dont know if that'll make a difference seeing as there is nothing to do in WY a bball game regardless who's playing, should be attended.

Does anyone else find it unnerving that WYs statewide population = the city of milwaukee? ;D

[PANTHERfan]

i actually looked back at a game last year this time and the attendance was 6,000 plus, though i believe their last home game was somewhere in the mid 3,000's. doesn't really matter either way. after playing in the Kohl and at Memphis they've been tested with tough environments. hopefully some hot shooting can get things going well early.

[PANTHERfan]

for what it's worth, Mejia has us winning 81-77.

[BBFran]

...we beat UIC in Chicago next week.

I'd like to win these games, but if they just toughen us up enough to help us handle the Flames in the Pavilion, I really don't care much what happens out West.

But, as long as we're playing, what the hell, let's win 'em.

[PANTHERfan]

absolutely true Fran... of course a west coast sweep would go a long way toward building team unity and confidence going into conference play. wouldn't hurt our slim at-large hopes either should we be in that position.