The College Basketball Invitational heads to a third and final contest after Wyoming defeated Coastal Carolina 81-57 on Wednesday night. After a steady first half that saw The Cowboys take a six-point lead at intermission, they exploded in the second half for 48 points and routed their opponent. The Chanticleers were held to just 31.3 percent shooting overall and they hit just 5-of-26 3-point attempts. The tournament finale takes place this Friday night at 7:00 PM Eastern time with coverage on CBS Sports Network and the CBS Sports app.
Coastal Carolina can't figure it out on offense
The Chanticleers fell well short of their average of 73 points per game, which already checks in at a mediocre 183rd nationally. Leading scorer Jaylen Shaw (14.4 ppg, 3.8 apg) was limited to just four points on 2-of-9 shooting, and missed his one lone 3-point attempt. Only two players broke the double digit mark -- Artur Labinowicz and Elijah Wilson with 10 points apiece.
Wilson (13.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg) went 4-for-14 from the field while Labinowicz (6.6 ppg) had most of his production come from making 6-of-10 free throws. As a team, Coastal Carolina made just 10-of-18 from the charity stripe. It's clear the team will miss players like Shivaughn Wiggins and Colton Ray-St Cyr, who were both lost for the season due to knee injuries in the first game of this series.
Can Wyoming bring home the trophy?
The Cowboys get the benefit of playing the last two games of this series at home, and they passed the first challenge with flying colors. They hit 45.5 percent of their shots from the field, converted a solid 12-of-31 3-point attempts, and outrebounded their opponent 39-33. Leading scorer Justin James (16 ppg, 5 rpg) led the way with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting and reeled in eight boards.
Alexander Aka Gorski (7.7 ppg) complimented that effort with 17 points of his own. It was the first time that he reached a double figure scoring output in the last nine games for Wyoming. Hayden Dalton (12.1 ppg, 8.2 rpg) struggled from the field hitting just 1-of-8, but he padded the stat sheet with six points, five boards, and five assists.
