LARAMIE – Wyoming head coach Sundance Wicks has been in the same stressful position he put Nick Whitmore in this week.
 
As an assistant under his predecessor, Jeff Linder, from 2020-23, Wicks handled the scouting report for Air Force.
 
That's the task Whitmore, a UW assistant during Linder's final season and now in his second season working for Wicks, was assigned as the Cowboys (9-3 overall. 0-1 Mountain West) try to get back on the winning track against the Falcons (3-9, 0-1) on Tuesday at Clune Arena (2 p.m., Altitude/MW Network).
 
"I know the type of anxiety and stress this scout gives you," Wicks said. "It's going to be a tough matchup."
 
After returning from holiday break, UW spent the first 40 minutes of practice guarding the scout team's version of the Princeton-style offense Air Force has run for decades under longtime head coach Joe Scott.
 
The Pokes shut it down … for a little while.
 
"Our guys guarded it really well for about the first 10 minutes. Then after that that's where they get you, they just wear you down," Wicks said. "I told our guys this is very reminiscent of what they will do. You can lock in for 10 minutes but if you don't stay locked in for 40 minutes against these guys, they're going to chip away and chip away and pretty soon you're in a dogfight playing in the 60s.
 
"And if you don't get to 70 before they do, you're in trouble."
 
The Cowboys won last year's meeting 70-65 at the Academy, but it took a season-best 69% shooting from the field by the visitors to overcome a nine-point deficit and escape with the rare road breakthrough.
 
Matija Belic and Abou Magassa are the only players on UW's current roster who have faced the Falcons.
 
The Cowboys vowed to return ready to redeem themselves after an eye-opening 82-70 loss to Grand Canyon in the MW opener on Dec. 20.
 
"We were probably thinking we were all that," point guard Leland Walker said of perhaps being too confident after an impressive 9-2 performance during non-conference play. "I'm mad, but I'm glad something like this happened so our players can have a level head on this break."
 
During his postgame press conference following the loss to GCU, Wicks said he was not worried about the team because the collection of talented individuals have set egos aside to help turn UW back into a MW contender four years after the program's last NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
The 2021-22 Cowboys finished 25-9 (13-5 in conference) but needed a dramatic layup from Colorado Springs native Hunter Maldonado at the buzzer to beat Air Force 63-61 in Clune Arena.
 
"Every time you go down to Air Force, they are always going to get big wins in this league and you just don't want it to be you that night," Wicks said. "Our guys are dialed in on it."
 
The Falcons rank 358^th in pace of play and are averaging 65.5 points per game. UW is averaging 86.4 points and will try to push the tempo after defensive stops, although Wicks notes he doesn't want to see any "out of rhythm" shots.
 
Walker (13.9 ppg), Nasir (Naz) Meyer (13.3 ppg) and Khaden Bennett (10.2 ppg) lead a balanced attack for the Pokes. The Falcons, one of the youngest teams in the country, are led by freshmen Lucas Hobin (12.6 ppg) and Kam Sanders (12.3 ppg).
 
"I'm really anxious to see how our guys came back. You could be right before Christmas and then you could come back after Christmas and you could be wrong," Wicks said. "So, I've really challenged our guys to continue to be right and stay on the right path, to show up with the right energy, effort and enthusiasm."
 
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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