LAS VEGAS – The story of the 2025-26 season was the joy Wyoming's remade roster played with down the stretch and the growth of the program in Sundance Wicks' second year as head coach.
 
That's why Wicks wants another chance to rewrite the ending after the ninth-seeded Cowboys clawed back from a 16-point deficit and held a lead in the final minute only to suffer a heartbreaking 73-70 loss to No. 8 UNLV in the opening round of the Mountain West Tournament on Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
 
"We're not going to shed any tears up here right now, because we're going to try to keep playing postseason basketball," Wicks said. "That's our No. 1 goal is to try to play with this team for as long as we can."

Wicks arrived at the postgame podium with freshmen Gavin Gores (15 points, five rebounds) and Nasir (Naz) Meyer (14 points, seven rebounds) and senior Leland Walker (eight points, eight rebounds, six assists) cloaked in disappointment about the defeat and pride in the fight. 
 
"I just want this experience to go on," Wicks said. "There are some teams where you just know they love playing, and these guys love playing the game of basketball."
 
The Cowboys (18-14) did not play well in the first half and trailed 44-28 with 31 seconds remaining. Meyer finally removed the lid from the UW basket and made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 13 points at the intermission.
 
Damarion Dennis capped a 20-5 run with a 3 to get the Cowboys to within 49-48, but the Rebels scored the next six points to make it a three-possession game midway through the second half.
 
After Walker had a layup blocked, Dennis grabbed one of his five offensive rebounds and scored to give UW a 56-55 lead.
 
"We didn't come out with the energy we needed to, but in the second half, I felt like we picked it up really well," Walker said. "We relied on trying to make shots and then not playing defense. Second half, we had a talk and came out and did what we had to do."
 
Gores tied the score with a soaring putback dunk and then scored over Tyrin Jones to put the Cowboys ahead 70-68 with 37 seconds remaining.
 
Kimani Hamilton, who finished with 23 points, finished an old-fashioned three-point play on the other end to put UNLV back in front.
 
"I want to say this about Wyoming: Sundance Wicks is an outstanding coach. They're very well-coached. They have really good players," UNLV head coach Josh Pastner said after coming out on top in the dramatic MW Tournament opener. "They are playing as well as anyone else in this league. Over the last month of the season, they've won five of six (games), so I knew that was going to be a tough game, because they are really good."
 
Meyer had a quality look in the paint but missed a potential game-winner with six seconds left and Dennis, who finished with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, had a layup blocked with three seconds left.
 
The Rebels tacked on two free throws at the other end to survive and advance to Thursday's quarterfinal round against top-seeded Utah State.
 
"They played an unbelievable second half to put us in position to go make the plays. We did that with a sophomore in Damarion Dennis and two freshmen in Gavin and Naz and a heck of a senior leader in Leland Walker," Wicks said. "The only thing that matters in March is this: Can you defend, rebound and take care of the basketball? We won in every statistical category except making shots. The outlier here is you can never put value on if you can make shots, but you are going to have to make them in March if you want to continue to play."
 
Wicks would like this team to add a final chapter to its story in the NIT or even the CBI.
 
"We have to play postseason again. I want them to keep feeling these moments and keep having these moments," Wicks said. "To fight for championships, you have to put yourself in championship environments and go play for a tournament."
 
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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