Steve Leven didn't see the Wyoming Cowboys' offensive struggles in the first half against the Dayton Flyers on Tuesday.

It's better that way.

"I'm glad I didn't go on that road trip," said Leven, the Cowboys' leading scorer who is out for at least another week with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, an injury he suffered in practice on Dec. 2.

"I would've been really mad. I didn't really want to come up to Casper, because I don't like watching the guys play if I can't help them. I don't know, I'm kind of in a little funk right now," Leven said.

Leven watched the Cowboys work out at the Casper Events Center on Friday night. When he got bored, he took flat-footed 3-pointers from around the arc, making a majority of them.

That's the kind of contribution he made in UW's first four games. His scoring average of 20.8 points per game not only leads UW but would pace the Mountain West Conference if he were eligible. His 13 3-pointers are tops on the team.

It's also why the Flyers' game was frustrating for Leven - it's tough to imagine UW going 7 minutes without a field goal with the dynamic Leven in the lineup.

"We need guys to step up more than they have been," the sophomore said. "We have to not act like we're wounded. We have to kind of take the underdog approach, and then when I come back, it'll make us so much stronger. I get the feeling from the last game, we're acting like we're wounded. That's the wrong approach.

"Totally wrong approach."

Leven injured his knee on the same spot of the Arena-Auditorium floor that Marcus Bailey tore his anterior cruciate ligament against South Carolina two Decembers ago. Teammate James Ebert fell on Leven's leg underneath the goal in front of the UW bench, bending back Leven's knee.

"I thought I was done for the year when it first happened," Leven said. "It was a pretty violent movement. His whole body weight came on my leg."

Now Leven is rehabbing the knee, shooting for a return on Dec. 28 when UW faces San Diego. He can job and said his range of movement is much improved.

"It's getting better really fast," Leven said softly. "I'm a little bit depressed about it, but I should be OK."

Senior sports reporter Jack Daly can be reached at (307) 266-0528 or sports@casperstartribune.net