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LARAMIE — Leonard Washington and Francisco Cruz scored 16 points apiece and Wyoming throttled No. 11 UNLV's high-scoring offense in a 68-66 victory Saturday.
Luke Martinez added 15 points — all on 3-pointers — and Adam Waddell scored 14 for Wyoming (18-5, 4-3 Mountain West). The win snapped a four-game losing streak against UNLV (21-4, 5-2) and was Wyoming's first victory against a top 25 team since beating No. 24 Utah in 2000.
UNLV had two chances after Martinez missed a long 3-point attempt for Wyoming with 22 seconds left, but the Runnin' Rebels missed both attempts — one a two-pointer to tie it, the other a 3 for the win — snapping their five-game winning streak.
Quintrell Thomas led UNLV with 15 points. Anthony Marshall and Oscar Bellfield contributed 12 apiece.
Wyoming built a 42-36 halftime lead behind a balanced scoring attack that saw four players — led by Martinez' 12 — scoring in double figures. The Cowboys held UNLV's two leading scorers — Mike Moser and Chace Stanback — to just 2 points apiece before the break. Both Moser and Stanback entered the game averaging over 14 points a game, but neither scored until the last 3 minutes of the half. Moser finished the game with 11 points, and Stanback failed to score in the second half.
The Runnin' Rebels rallied to take a 53-52 lead on a bank shot by Reggie Smith.
After the teams traded baskets, the Cowboys went on an 8-0 run sparked by two buckets from Washington to go ahead 62-55 with 6:45 left.
Cowboys guard JayDee Luster sank a 3-pointer at the 5:43 mark to put Wyoming ahead 67-59. UNLV pulled to 67-64 on five unanswered points by Marshall with 1:38 remaining.
Luster sank a free throw before Thomas scored with 52 seconds left to pull UNLV within 2 points.
