LARAMIE – Confidence and a bout with the flu.
 
Those are two things Wyoming returned home from Lubbock, Texas, with after last Sunday's 76-72 loss to No. 20 Texas Tech.
 
The Cowboys (6-2) now have "proof of concept," as head coach Sundance Wicks says, that they can play with high-caliber teams on the road.
 
However, leading up to the matchup with Dartmouth on Saturday at the Arena-Auditorium (2 p.m., Mountain West Network), only about half the roster was healthy enough to practice.
 
"Our guys know the M.O. here, which is to defend the Dome, to still be undefeated at home and keep that point of pride for us," Wicks said. "We know what's coming. We've been battling some flu right now, it's about as bad a flu as I've seen. My voice still hasn't recovered."
 
Two of UW's outstanding true freshmen, Gavin Gores and Nasir (Naz) Meyer, were among the healthy skeleton crew practicing on Thursday night.
 
Gores finished with six points and four rebounds in 20 minutes and did his best to guard All-American JT Toppin (27 points, nine rebounds) in the post against the Red Raiders.
 
"Our coaches hit the scouting report on him right on the head. Being able to sit on his left, he's pretty dominant there," Gores said. "But he's also a really talented player so he's going to go get his. It was a great experience and a great opportunity to face someone that high level. It was awesome."
 
Meyer, who earned his second MW freshman of the week award, added eight points and five rebounds off the bench.
 
"We're going to play teams like that in the Mountain West so we wanted to see where we are at," Meyer said. "We should have won, we've got to do better, but it was definitely a different environment, something you always want to (experience). I enjoyed it. You've just got to take every moment in and do your job."
 
A crowd of 10,018 showed up over Thanksgiving weekend to watch the Pokes push Texas Tech at United Supermarkets Arena.
 
UW, which was the second-highest ranked MW team in the initial NET rankings at No. 59, is hoping the crowds at the Arena-Auditorium continue to grow this season.
 
"If we keep doing our job, keep winning games, I think we're going to get more and more fans in the seats," Gores said. "That starts with us so we've got to be ready to work in practice every day. If we can do that more and more people are going to want to come see us."
 
The Big Green (3-3) is coming off a thrilling 69-68 victory over in-state rival New Hampshire on Wednesday. Dartmouth, like UW, is excellent at defending the 3-point arc and rebounding.
 
Sophomore guard Kareem Thomas (18.8 ppg) leads the visitors from the Ivy League in scoring, and 6-foot-8 senior forward Brandon Mitchell-Day (14.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg) is nearly averaging a double-double.
 
"I'm happy to see the success he has had there," Wicks said of Mitchell-Day, who UW recruited when Jeff Linder was head coach. "He's a good player, he's one of the top defensive rebounding players in the country and he's a good matchup at the four spot. He's going to give us a good look."
 
Fortunately, most of the Cowboy big men were available late in the week. Point guard Leland Walker, who scored 28 points at Texas Tech, was working his way back from illness.
 
"(Walker) has been a great leader for us, he has been a great guy to rely on because he's always holding everybody accountable," Gores said. "It's easy for him to play well in games just because he's so consistent in practice."
 
This will be the second meeting between the two schools. UW defeated Dartmouth 76-47 on New Year's Eve 1998 when current assistant Chris McMillian was playing for the Pokes.
 
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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