Sundance Wicks leads Wyoming into Las Vegas with nothing to lose and everything to gain

With head coach Sundance Wicks’ second year in Laramie approaching a close, no one can dispute that this season has been a steady progression that bodes well for the 2026-27 season.

Considering the massive roster overhaul that the Pokes had to endure, finishing the regular season 18-13 and defending Arena Auditorium to the tune of a 14-4 record is something you take every day and Sunday.

Looking at their season through the lens of the Mountain West, Wyoming was able to escape the bottom quarter of the conference standings and knock on the door of UNLV and Colorado State.

A step in the right direction that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

However, it enflames the agony of two close losses to Utah State and Fresno State by a combined five points that, in a different reality, would have placed the Cowboys in a tie with the Rams and Rebels.

Regardless, they now have a chance to learn from their regular-season successes and failures and apply those lessons when they take the floor at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

In the final few games of February and early March, it felt as though a different Cowboy would step up each night to push the Cowboys across the finish line.

One night it would be Damarion Dennis.

Another, it would be Khaden Bennett.

And who could forget about freshman upstart Nasir Meyer?

The one constant, however, was the consistent and steady impact of leading scorer Leland Walker. Since the start of February, he hasn’t had an eye-popping performance and has been kept under wraps by opposing defenses.

But, when he sees the floor well and shooting with a certain pep in his step, it has resulted in five nights of scoring 20+ points.

A veteran ball-handler, his biggest point of improvement over the last few weeks has been his ability to take care of the rock and not get squeezed into careless turnovers.

In the last five games, Walker has committed just two turnovers, including three straight games with zero.

The wild card that can push Wyoming to a potential first-round upset is the play of the aforementioned Nasir Meyer.

He has stayed under the radar as of late, but when the 6-7 freshman is on point – look out.

Meyer tends to score in stints, evidenced by sequences of double-digit scoring during a five-game period (14, 26, 25, 12, and 14), a four-gamer (10, 27, 13, and 13), and a recent six-game stretch (19, 12, 22, 11, 12, and 14).

When he grinds to a halt, it has never lasted more than two games in a row.

In the last two wins for Wyoming, Meyer scored nine and seven points.

If his season’s body of work is any indication, we should be in for an above-average Nasir Meyer outing on Wednesday when the Pokes take the floor against hometown UNLV.

As it pertains to what faces the Cowboys this week, it isn’t hyperbolic to say that they may face the toughest road to a Mountain West tournament title.

With the nine seed, they will open with Josh Pastner and UNLV – a team that has won six of their last nine, including narrow losses to Colorado State and San Diego State. Despite their record, the Rebels house one of, if not, the best player in the Mountain West in Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, a 6-1 guard that can score with the best in the country.

Since January 30th, these are the types of performances “DGA” has put up…

• At Nevada: 26 points and 4-9 from three.
• At Fresno State: 28 points and 4-6 from three.
• Vs. Grand Canyon: 29 points and 3-8 from three.
• Vs. San Jose State: 24 points and 4-8 from three.
• At Boise State: 36 points and 6-12 from three.
• Vs. Colorado State: 31 points and 6-12 from three.
• At Air Force: 21 points and 4-5 from three.
• At Grand Canyon: 30 points and 6-11 from three.
• Vs. Nevada: 42 points and 8-14 from three.
• Vs. Utah State: 10 points and 2-6 from three.
• At San Diego State: 32 points and 5-11 from three.

The man is a certified bucket-getter.

And he’s getting to play on his home rims in front of a home crowd?

If he gets hot early, not only will Wyoming be in the danger zone, but so will the rest of the conference.

But let’s give Wicks and company the benefit of the doubt and witness them pull off a slight shocker.

They would then be congratulated with a date with the No. 1 seed, Utah State, in the quarterfinals.

After that, either No. 4 seed Grand Canyon or No. 5 seed Nevada would be likely in the semifinals.

Then, if the oddsmakers are correct, a final would feature someone from the group of No. 2 San Diego State, No. 3 New Mexico, No. 6 Boise State, or No. 7 Colorado State.

If you are confident in saying you know who will represent the bottom half of the bracket, I wouldn’t believe you for a second.

For Wyoming, if they can knock off UNLV, everything after that is gravy.

Simple as that.

But Sundance Wicks won’t be satisfied with that.

He’s witnessing the same results across the country that we are:

No. 9 Drake knocking off No. 1 Belmont in the Missouri Valley quarterfinals.

No. 10 Georgia Southern winning five games in five days to play in the Sun Belt championship on Monday night.

No. 7 Idaho taking down No. 2 Montana State in the Big Sky quarterfinals.

No. 9 Campbell upsetting No. 1 UNC Wilmington in the CAA quarterfinals.

Why not us?

Why not Wyoming?

The No. 9 Cowboys will take on No. 8 UNLV on Wednesday in the matinee event, tipping off at 1 p.m. (Mountain Time) on the Mountain West Network.