March Madness – (12) Wyoming vs. (5) Northern Iowa

(12) Wyoming Cowboys vs (5) Northern Iowa Panthers (-6)

The No. 12 Wyoming Cowboys (25-9, 11-7 Mountain West) and No. 5 Northern Iowa Panthers (30-3, 16-2 MVC) will look to advance to the third round of the 2015 March Madness when they meet on Friday at the Key Arena in Seattle (1:40 p.m. Eastern).

Wyoming was a surprise champion in the Mountain West. The team finished fourth in the regular season standings, but ran the table in the conference tournament, downing regular season champs San Diego State in the title game, 45-43. The win gave the Cowboys their first tournament berth in 13 years.

Sophomore guard Josh Adams hit a three-pointer late in the game to put Wyoming ahead for good in the low scoring battle against the Aztecs. But it was senior forward Larry Nance Jr. who was all over the box score for the Cowboys; evidently not ready to end his college career just yet, Nance put up 14 points, six boards, three assists, and two blocks.

Tomorrow, the Cowboys will face a Northern Iowa Panthers squad that has won 19 of its last 20 games, including a 69-60 victory over Illinois State for the Missouri Valley Conference title.

Though UNI comes in as the higher seed and also as heavy six-point favorites, the squad knows Wyoming is not to be overlooked. “Once you make it this far, every team you play is going to be really good,” Panthers senior forward Seth Tuttle said. “I’ve watched Wyoming a couple times… It’s going to be a battle.”

Wyoming is just 11-18 ATS on the year, while the Panthers are an impressive 19-9-3. UNI is also 20-8 ATS in its last 28 neutral site games. The trends certainly favor the Panthers, laying the six points.

(Photo credit: Feddacheenee (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)