GAME NOTES: The Wyoming Cowboys try to avoid a third straight loss on Saturday, as they contend against the San Jose State Spartans in Mountain West Conference action at Arena-Auditorium.

Since getting off to one of their best starts in program history, the Cowboys have hit a couple of rough spots in the schedule in the last few weeks. Most recently, the team has had to take the floor without its best player, Larry Nance Jr., who has been dealing with mononucleosis and is out indefinitely and as a result the Pokes have lost two in a row and are now tied with Colorado State for third place in the MWC standings with a record of 8-4.

Three nights ago, Wyoming was crushed by league-leading San Diego State in a 67-41 final, the scoring output by the Cowboys representing their lowest of the campaign.

If the Cowboys thought they had it tough recently, they need to look no further than Saturday's opponent to see what true desperation is these days. With a laundry list of players who are either injured or being disciplined, the Spartans have greatly limited their ability to compete. It has become so bad that SJSU is still waiting for that first win of the season against another team from the Division I ranks.

Since defeating St. Katherine College back on Dec. 9, the Spartans have dropped a staggering 13 straight, the most recent of those being a 60-57 setback versus Nevada a week ago. Needless to say, with a mark of 0-11 in conference play, the Spartans are holding down last place in the standings.

Wyoming has won all but one of the previous eight meetings between the programs, sporting a perfect 4-0 mark in Laramie. The Cowboys posted a 64-59 win in California in the first meeting of the season last month.

The lone victory for the Spartans was a 67-62 final at home back in 1997.

Last weekend, San Jose State actually made things interesting against a slumping Nevada program, but still the home team failed to get over the hump at The Event Center as it shot only 5-of-26 behind the 3-point line and had some issues at the free-throw line (18-of-26) during the three-point decision. Darryl Gaynor II gave SJSU a fighting chance with a game-high 25 points, but he also committed an unsightly nine turnovers, while Rashad Muhammad added 10 points on a mere 3-of-12 shooting from the field.

Muhammad, who has scored in double figures in seven straight outings and 12 of the last 13 overall, is netting a team-best 13.5 ppg in conference play, although his mere 32.3 percent shooting from the field actually falls below his effort behind the 3-point line (.333). Jaleel Williams is listed as the only other double-digit scorer with 10.2 ppg and he too has been having issues finding the basket with his 33.6 percent accuracy from the floor and feeble 22.8 percent out on the perimeter.

Against San Diego State on Wednesday night, the Cowboys watched the Aztecs put together an early 15-3 scoring run and never recovered, becoming just the latest team to falter at Viejas Arena. Again, playing without Nance Jr. who is out until further notice, Wyoming shot only 35.4 percent form the field and was a dismal 3-of-26 behind the 3-point line. The lone bright spot was Derek Cooke Jr. who made all six of his field goals and finished with 13 points and six rebounds, while Josh Adams fought hard for his 12 points.

Without Nance Jr. to turn to, the Pokes are missing out on 18.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest when taking on the rest of the Mountain West. That leaves Adams as the lone active, double-digit scorer with his 12.4 ppg, although shooting just 29.6 percent from 3-point range is far from encouraging. Riley Grabau, who hit only one of his seven chances out on the perimeter in the last game, pitches in with 9.8 ppg and will be pushed to be more of a contributor on Saturday.

With a woeful 31.9 percent shooting from the floor, 24.9 percent beyond the arc in the conference play, the Spartans are far from a team that the rest of the MWC should fear. Granted, the team nearly pulled off an upset last week, but there is little chance of that happening this time around against a Wyoming group that needs to get back on track.