LARAMIE – Urgency.
 
That's the only word Sundance Wicks wrote on the whiteboard in the postgame locker room.
 
Wyoming opened the 2025-26 season with an entertaining 99-75 victory over Northern State on Monday night in front of a crowd of 3,098 at the Arena-Auditorium.
 
The Cowboys' second-year head coach was pleased with the pace of play and the point total, but Wicks was not satisfied with the attention to detail and effort on the defensive end, especially in the early stages of the game.

"All these guys are stepping into bigger shoes, filling bigger roles," Wicks said. "They've got to grow up. It's a race to maturity. So, the level of urgency that they have to have has to set the tone for everybody else."
 
James Glenn, who finished 4-for-5 on 3-pointers, buried an open look from behind the arc to tie the score 26-26 with 10:27 remaining in the first half. The senior guard finished with 14 points and was one of four Northern State players to score in double figures.
 
"I think, just starting the game, we might have thought, 'Oh, we probably have an edge on these guys,'" said 6-7 junior wing Adam Harakow, who finished with 12 points and five rebounds off the bench in his UW debut. "Don't take anything for granted."
 
Boise State, picked to finish third in the preseason Mountain West media poll, took a win over Hawaii Pacific for granted. The Division II Sharks toppled the Broncos 79-78 on Monday night.
 
Wicks' team, which has 12 new players, gets to learn from the "teach tape" following a 24-point win over his alma mater. The Wolves were 12-for-40 (30%) on 3s and many of those shots were not aggressively contested.
 
"Your job is to get a stick hand on every dang catch," Wicks said. "I'll hold my guys accountable to that point. I know we teach that stuff. I know we emphasize getting a stick hand on snipers and pressuring on the catch and not allowing guys to get 40 3-point attempts up. …
 
"If teams get up 40 attempts, I don't like my percentages going forward on other teams that can shoot the ball a little bit."
 
The Cowboys (1-0) only made six 3s but scored 62 points in the paint. Many of the layup opportunities were created by guards pushing the ball up the court after defensive rebounds and creating high-percentage scoring chances.
 
Nasir (Naz) Meyer finished with 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting and six rebounds playing 21 minutes off the bench. It was the second most points by a freshman making his UW debut in the MW era behind Marcus Williams (20 points vs. Mississippi Valley State in 2020), who earned conference freshman of the year honors.
 
"I think he's going to be one of the next great players at Wyoming," Harakow said of Meyer.
 
One of Meyer's assists came on an alley-oop to high-flying freshman Gavin Gores for a dunk in the second half as the visitors from Aberdeen, S.D. (elev. 1,302) started to feel the altitude.
 
"(Meyer) has got such a high ceiling and you saw little flashes of him and Gavin out there as freshmen," Wicks said. "They're a dynamic freshmen duo right now but they've got a lot to grow on the defensive side."
 
Two starting guards, Khaden Bennett (14 points) and Damarion Dennis (11 points), were a combined 10-for-16 from the field.
 
The Pokes, who rattled off a 10-0 run after Glenn tied the game midway through the first half, ran away with the win despite a quiet night from starting point guard Leland Walker, who finished with nine points and three assists.
 
"Our ability to get the ball out and go, that has to be our identity," Wicks said. "For 40 minutes, if we keep coming at you and keep coming at you, we're going to put a lot of pressure on your transition defense."
 
The two key returners from last season, Matija Belic (10 points) and Abou Magassa (seven points, eight rebounds), understand the urgency required to compete in the MW.
 
"It doesn't matter who we play, but how we play," Belic said. "That shouldn't change, no matter who we face. So, (we need) more urgency coming into the game."
 
UW will host Cal State Fullerton at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The Titans set a program record for points in a game during a 136-82 victory over Caltech to open the season.
 
"The message was we've got to be more urgent. We're not urgent enough in the classroom right now," Wicks said. "You can't be a one-way guy. You can't play offense and not play defense."
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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