Saturday, November 21st, 9:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Arena Auditorium (15,000) -- Laramie, Wyoming. Television: None. Home Record: BSU 0-0, Wyoming 1-1 Away Record: BSU 0-1, Wyoming 0-0. Neutral Record: BSU 2-0, Wyoming 0-0. Conference Record: BSU 0-0, Wyoming 0-0. Series Record: Wyoming leads, 7-5.

GAME NOTES: Playing at home for the third straight game to kick off the 2009-10 campaign, the Wyoming Cowboys welcome the Boise State Broncos to Laramie for a non-conference bout at Arena Auditorium.

The Cowboys split their first two outings, first losing to South Dakota State in the opener eight days ago with a 77-61 setback, but then completely dominating Peru State with a lopsided 120-73 victory that will serve as a huge stat booster down the line.

As for the Broncos, they took part in the Karl Tyler Classic Montana Basketball Tournament in Missoula last week and responded with two wins in three tries. The team took care of both Loyola Marymount (90-87) and North Dakota (75-60), but in between the Broncos suffered a 75-61 setback at the hands of Montana.

With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, the Cowboys own a 7-5 edge against Boise State heading into this meeting. However, the Broncos are the ones who pulled off an 86-85 win in the most recent encounter a season ago.

In the win against North Dakota, the Broncos leaned on Paul Noonan to get them over the hump and he was there for them with a team-best 23 points, thanks to his 6-of-11 shooting behind the three-point line. Daequon Montreal chipped in 11 points off the bench, while Anthony Thomas stepped in with eight points and eight of the unit's 17 assists, although he was also guilty of six of their 16 turnovers as well. Even though he finished with only eight points in the last games, La'Shard Anderson still stands as the top scorer for BSU after three games with his 16.7 ppg, followed by Noonan with 15.7 ppg. Ike Okoye is a crucial piece to this year's puzzle, standing as the inside presence for Boise State with his 13.0 ppg and team-best 8.3 rpg to help give the prograsm a slight advantage in the rebounding department versus the opposition.

Using Wyoming's last game to get a gauge on this team's ability really isn't fair, because the competition was nowhere near what the Pokes are going to find on the other side of the floor for most of this season. But just for the fun of it we can mention that Afam Muojeke led five players in double figures with his 26 points, shooting 9-of-13 from the field in just 23 minutes of action. Thomas Manzano and Djibril Thiam accounted for 19 and 18 points, respectively, the latter getting the job done in a mere 19 minutes. Again, it has only been two games, so it would be wise to take the team's stats to this point with a grain of salt as they average 90.5 ppg on 52.5 percent shooting from the field. What might be more accurate is the squad's 28.6 percent effort behind the three-point line. Only Muojeke (22.5 ppg) has more than a couple of three-point baskets thus far, which is why he is the leading scorer after two outings.

Both of these teams are weaker this year than they were in 2008-09, but at least the Broncos have been a bit more steady in the early going, so give them the edge in this trip to Laramie.

Predicted Outcome

Boise State 77, Wyoming 70