LARAMIE – Muhammad Ali was as memorable in front of a microphone as he was in the ring.
 
Among the many legendary quotes from the late loquacious heavyweight champion:
 
"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
 
Wyoming head coach Sundance Wicks, who knew the Cowboys' 98-66 victory over UNLV late Tuesday night was already won during Monday's high-level practice, used a boxing analogy after his team dismantled the Runnin' Rebels 72 hours after a painful loss to New Mexico in The Pit.
 
"When a dude gets up off the mat after getting one in the chin, you find out what you're made of," Wicks said. "That's who we have to be. We have to be scrappy, we have to be tougher and we've got to fight. We can't be afraid about who we're facing in the ring. I don't care. Everybody in this league has got a heavy hand. We've had a light jaw the first couple games."
 
The Cowboys (11-4, 2-2) landed an early knockout punch by shooting 63% from the field, including 8-for-11 (72.7%) on 3-pointers, in the first half while holding UNLV to 6-for-20 (30%) shooting. The Rebels were left gasping for air and answers after entering the locker room trailing 48-26 at the intermission.

"When you see guys who are tired, you want to just attack them," senior point guard Leland Walker said. "We can beat them how we really want to beat them."
 
Walker bounced back from two subpar games on the road with a game-high 28 points on 9-for-15 shooting with three assists and one turnover. Khaden Bennett (13 points, seven rebounds), Damarion Dennis (12 points, two blocks) and Nasir (Naz) Meyer also imposed their will on the Rebels.
 
This was the largest conference win for the Pokes since a 101-66 romp over San Diego State on Feb. 3, 2001.
 
"He has been telling us all year about it. I don't think our guys were ready for it," Walker said of Wicks warning the squad since the summer about what it takes to win consistently in the MW. "But I feel like we're here now, we're ready for it, we know what's coming."
 
The Pokes were ready to counter every tactical punch UNLV had because of the preparation. Wicks credited assistant Nick Whitemore for putting together an "elite" scouting report and giving an inspirational speech that helped fuel the 15-4 run to start the game.
 
"I know pregame speeches don't win games, but I tell you what I have goosebumps right now thinking about the Braveheart scene that Nick Whitemore had in that locker room," Wicks said. "I've got a lot of guys that care about me and a lot of guys that care about Wyoming and care about these guys, these players. When they're in there celebrating, I get the feeling that this is a special group. But that doesn't mean you're going to do special things. You've got to keep fighting for that stuff.
 
"It's fun to have guys that respond to you as a coach."
 
Step one in restoring glory to a program is reestablishing the home-court advantage. UW improved to 9-1 this season in the Arena-Auditorium.
 
Step two will be stealing a road win in a hostile environment, which the Cowboys will try to do when they play Nevada on Saturday.
 
To stick with the boxing analogy, there are still 16 more rounds in this MW regular season fight to go. No matter what happens in Reno, the Cowboys must come out of their corner ready on Jan. 14 for what is likely San Diego State's final visit to 7,220 feet.
 
"I want you, every time you think about Laramie, you think about the worst day of your life, as an opponent," Wicks said. "The worst travel day, too. I just wish there was snow. I wish there was snow, and I wish there was ice, and I wish there was rain. …
 
"I wish there was just bad weather and wind. I wish they could have all the bad things that everybody thinks are bad that we love, as Wyomingites."
 
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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