Hunter Maldonado had 29 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and Graham Ike finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 22 Wyoming to a 75-67 victory Saturday over Air Force in a Mountain West game at Laramie, Wyo.
Ike made all 11 of his field-goal attempts to lead Wyoming’s 51-percent shooting performance from the field.
The Cowboys (22-4, 11-2 Mountain West) made 68.8 percent of their shots (22 of 32) from inside the 3-point line. They scored 42 points in the paint.
Maldonado made 10 of 11 shots from the free-throw line. Wyoming was 22 of 26 with its free-throw shooting while Air Force attempted only nine free throws and made six.
Lucas Moerman had 15 points before fouling out to lead Air Force (10-15, 3-11).
AJ Walker finished with 14 points and Jake Heidbreder finished with 11.
Air Force was trying to defeat a ranked opponent for the first time since March 9, 2013, when the Falcons upset No. 12 New Mexico at home.
Wyoming led by as many as 13 points in the first half, but Air Force went on an 11-2 run to close the half and cut the lead to 30-26.
Joseph Octave, Ethan Taylor and Moerman each made 3-pointers during that stretch.
Maldonado and Ike combined for 22 points in the half on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. Ike made all four of his attempts and had six rebounds at that point.
Maldonado’s layup with 13:22 remaining gave the Cowboys a 44-36 lead.
The Falcons responded with a 10-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Moerman, to tie the game at 46 with 10:50 left.
Wyoming gained separation with a 10-2 rally that gave the Cowboys a 67-55 lead with 2:07 remaining.
Brendan Wenzel scored all four of his points in the game during that pivotal run.
Drake Jeffries also contributed late scoring four of his seven points in the last minute of the game.
–Field Level Media