LARAMIE – Khaden Bennett was the best player on the floor from start to finish.
 
The self-possessed junior capped the home schedule with an emphatic performance to lead Wyoming to a wire-to-wire 83-73 victory over Nevada on Tuesday night in the Arena-Auditorium.
 
Bennett finished with a career-high 27 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 6-for-8 on 3-pointers. The 6-foot-4 guard had more rebounds (seven) and assists (five) than any player from either side and he also made three of UW's five steals.
 
"Otherworldly," is how head coach Sundance Wicks described Bennett's performance. "I'm telling him to swing the ball, and he just shoots at it and looks at me, and I'm like, 'Yeah, good shot, man.'
 
"He's a Swiss Army Knife. He's just such a dude, such a winner."
 
Bennett buried a 3 from the corner to open the scoring and made his sixth shot behind the arc at the buzzer to give the Cowboys a commanding 49-28 lead at the intermission. It was the first time a UW player had made six 3s in a half since Drake Jeffries, also against Nevada, in 2022.
 
"As a shooter, once you see the first one go in, you feel like you can't miss and then you hit the second and you feel like you can't miss even more and it just keeps going on," Bennett explained. "It was great to see the first one go in and keep it rolling."
 
The Wolf Pack (19-11, 11-8), which has lost seven consecutive games in Laramie, finished 4-for-15 (26.7%) on 3s but cut into the deficit in the second half with 13 made shots inside the arc and 13 made free throws.
 
UW, which shot 69% from the field through the first 20 minutes, cooled to 9-for-17 (52.9%) while being outscored 45-34 in the second half. Nevada was able to get within eight points, but Leland Walker scored 10 points down the stretch to keep the visitors from mounting a serious challenge.
 
"In the second half we wanted to be better, and we weren't happy with that," Bennett said. "Being able to stay focused, stay poised was good to see for us."
 
Damarion Dennis (18 points), Nasir (Naz) Meyer (nine points, four assists) and Gavin Gores (11 points with three dunks) also had Nevada on its heels as UW won for the fourth time in the last five games using a four-guard lineup.
 
"Don't let the Pokes get hot," Wicks warned. "You don't have to sit there and win every single game on the schedule, but down the stretch you want to be playing your best basketball in March and we're playing pretty good basketball. That first half was a microcosm of how good of basketball we're playing."
 
After the Cowboys were eliminated from the 2025 Mountain West Tournament to finish 12-20, Wicks said he wanted more "Fight Club" guys who don't wince at the sight of their own blood.
 
The emergence of Bennett as a bruising, versatile force will make it tough to knock UW out in Las Vegas when the tournament begins next Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
 
"The dude will sprain an ankle in practice, and he'll just walk it off. He'll lose a tooth in practice, and he'll just put it back in. He'll fracture his nose, and he'll put tape on it. You're just waiting for the dude to tap out one time, and he won't," Wicks said of Bennett after the Pokes won their 14^th game at the Arena-Auditorium to match the total of the 2021-22 team that made the NCAA Tournament. "That's a street fighter. That's a UFC guy. I told you I wanted more Fight Club guys; he's a Fight Club guy.
 
"Those guys are huge you for in March because you've got to have those guys who can do everything for you."
 
The Cowboys (17-13, 8-11) finish the regular season at San Jose State on Saturday (3 p.m., MW Network).
 
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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