The University of Wyoming men's basketball team rung in the new year with a huge victory in the Pokes first Mountain West Conference game of the year. The University of Nevada Las Vegas Runnin' Rebels came to the AA and left with a bad New Year's eve celebration. Senior forward Larry Nance Jr.'s 29 points paced four Cowboys in double figures and the University of Wyoming men's basketball team celebrated New Year's Eve with a 76-71 Mountain West win over UNLV. The Pokes (12-2, 1-0) captured their first victory in a MW opener since 2006-07 by hitting nine of their last 11 free throws to hold a lead and down the Rebels (9-4, 0-1), who were receiving votes in the AP poll. Nance went 11-of-17 from the field, 1-of-1 from deep and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe, as he finished just one point shy of back-to-back games with 30 points. He added five rebounds, three blocks, two steals and an assist. Nance's 11 field goals were a season high, as he notched his fifth 20-point contest this season and 12th of his career. Grabau contributed 12 points, including a clutch 6-of-6 showing at the free throw line, while Adams had 10 points, five assists and two steals. Senior forward Derek Cooke Jr. posted 14 points, his fourth-straight game with double figures. This match up was supposed to be a low scoring defensive battle. But that didn't materialize. "It was an odd game for us," UW head coach Larry Shyatt said. "We've been an easy team to read. The formula has been -- we're not very pretty, nobody is usually too happy on offense when they play us, and it is usually a low-scoring game when we play. But that is not what we had tonight." The Cowboys open 2015 at San Jose State on Saturday at 8 p.m. MT.

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