GCU starts Mountain West play with comfortable upset win at Wyoming

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — Makaih Williams’ 20 points off of the bench helped lead GCU men’s basketball to an 82-70 victory against Wyoming in its inaugural Mountain West Conference matchup on Saturday.

GCU, which entered the game 68 spots behind the Cowboys in the NET rankings, led at halftime 45-26 after opening the game on an 18-3 run. Nana Owusu-Anane paced the team in scoring in the first half with 12 points.

GCU was outscored by Wyoming in the second half by a seven-point margin, but still wound up on top, while Williams led the way with a team-high 11 second-half points.

The margin was never single digits after the initial run.

Williams was 6 for 9 overall and 7-for-9 from the free-throw line for the ‘Lopes (7-4). Jaden Henley scored 18 points while shooting 6-for-9 (2-for-3 from 3-point range) and 4-for-7 from the free-throw line. Owusu-Anane finished with 15 points.

Leland Walker led the way for the Cowboys (9-3) with 13 points, four assists and two steals. Nasir Meyer added 12 points, six rebounds and two steals for Wyoming. Abou Magassa recorded nine points and two steals.

The ‘Lopes will take a one-game break from conference play to host IU Indy (previously IUPUI) on Monday at 6 p.m. before resuming Mountain West play against Colorado State on Jan. 3.

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