LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Bellarmine University men's basketball team will wrap up its 2024-25 nonconference schedule with a pair of games in the Rocky Mountains this week, first taking on Wyoming on Thursday before visiting Colorado on Saturday.
 
The game at Wyoming can be seen for free online on the Mountain West Network. The game at Colorado can be found on ESPN+. Radio coverage can be found on ESPN 680 and ESPNLouisville.com.
 
About Wyoming
Wyoming (No. 206 in NET rankings) enters Thursday on a four-game skid and sitting at 5-5 overall. They dropped a 68-49 decision to BYU (No. 53) Saturday on a neutral court in Salt Lake City. The Cowboys never threatened the Cougars after falling behind 11-0 to start and allowing their opponents to shoot 52.2 percent. Their three losses before BYU, however, were all by one score: 82-81 to South Dakota, 70-67 to Utah State (No. 20) and 73-70 to Loyola Marymount. In fact, their two most recent wins before their four-game skid were also by one score: 64-63 over Tulane and 64-61 over Southeastern Louisiana. Tulane, at No. 236 in the NET rankings, is their best win on the season.
 
The Cowboys are led by guard Obi Agbim, who leads the team averaging 18.3 points and 3.7 assists. The fifth-year senior spent three seasons in Division II with one junior college season in between. He has made an immediate impact for UW, having made 64 field goals through 10 games, 30 more than any other Cowboy. Fifth-year senior Jordan Nesbitt, who is playing for his fourth collegiate program, leads the team averaging 9.2 rebounds out of the guard spot and is second averaging 10.2 points. Wyoming also features a local connection to Kentucky in fifth-year senior guard Dontaie Allen (5.0 points, 2.5 rebounds). The Pendleton County High School product was named Kentucky's Mr. Basketball in 2019 and spent a pair of seasons each at Kentucky and Western Kentucky before heading to Wyoming for his final year of eligibility.
 
As a team, Wyoming ranked 39^th nationally in rebounding margin at +7.6 and 51^st averaging 39.9 rebounds per game.
 
UW is 4-0 at Arena-Auditorium. They will be the first opponent Bellarmine has ever faced out of the current crop of Mountain West teams.
 
Davenport on the Cowboys
"Wyoming has had to reload and are an improving basketball team. They utilize five seniors and a graduate student. Coach [Sundance] Wicks is a proven winner and without a doubt knows what it takes to be successful. From an on-court viewpoint, Wyoming plays a solid fundamental brand that is the mark of a well-coached team." Head coach Scott Davenport
 
About Colorado
Colorado comes into their matchup at 8-2, 7-0 at home. Both of their losses came in the Maui Invitational (72-56 to Michigan State, 99-71 to Iowa State), though they also upset then second-ranked Connecticut 73-72 (now No. 11 in the NET rankings). The three games in Maui are the only contests the Buffs have played away from the CU Events Center. In their second game of the season, they survived a double-overtime scare at home against Northern Colorado, eking out a 90-88 win.
 
Colorado lost their top five scorers and top six rebounders from a year ago, a season in which they won a program-record 26 games, including a pair in the NCAA Tournament. This year, UC boasts three players averaging double-digit scoring in Julian Hammond III (13.4 points), Andrej Jakimovski (12.1) and Elijah Malone (12.3). As a team, the Buffs rank 32^nd nationally hitting 38.6 percent of their threes, but just 269^th in three-point attempts per game (21.0). A senior guard, Hammond has hit 44.4 percent of his outside shots and also leads Colorado averaging 3.3 assists. Trevor Baskin, a fifth-year senior forward transfer from Division II Colorado Mesa, leads the Buffs averaging 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while adding 9.1 points.
 
Saturday's game will be the first meeting between the programs. Bellarmine is 0-6 against current members of the Big 12, 0-4 since transitioning to Division I.
 
Davenport on the Buffaloes
"Colorado plays a very high level of basketball. Their record is not the only indicator of their abilities—watching and scouting them, they are a complete team with experience, size and athleticism. We embrace the challenge as this is a tremendous opportunity to continue to prepare as we open ASUN play."
 
About the Venues
At an elevation of 7,220 feet, Arena-Auditorium in Laramie is the court with the highest altitude in Division I basketball. The "Dome of Doom" opened in 1982 and currently seats 11,612 spectators. The CU Events Center in Boulder is at a significantly lower elevation of 5,381 feet, but is still the fifth-highest elevated court in D-I. The facility opened in 1979 and has a listed capacity of 11,064.
 
Last Time Out
Bellarmine dropped a gut-wrenching 86-82 decision to Ball State Saturday afternoon at Knights Hall in their final nonconference home game. The high-octane contest featured both teams making tough buckets throughout to keep the game tight, but it was ultimately the Cardinals who came out on top, due in part to their 32-15 advantage in free throw opportunities. Ball State shot 54.2 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from three in the win. Bellarmine was without junior forward Jack Karasinski (16.9 PPG) for the third straight game.
 
Agent Smith
Junior guard Billy Smith posted a career-high 33 points Saturday versus Ball State, connecting on 11-for-15 field goal attempts, 6-of-8 from three. The Miami (OH) transfer in his second year with BU is shooting 51.0 percent from the field and 41.8 percent from three (2nd in the ASUN), both on pace for career highs. He has scored double-digit points in nine straight games. He had matched his previous career high with 18 points on November 23 against Bowling Green and backed that up with 13 points the following game against Midway, combining to go 12-for-16 over those two games. He leads the team with 14 steals (1.3 SPG) and is tied for the team lead with 28 assists (2.5 APG). He is tied for second averaging 13.5 points.
 
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