BOULDER, Colo. - When Wyoming forward Joseph Taylor drove into a crowded lane with less than 30 seconds to play and UW trailing Colorado 73-71, nearly everyone in the Coors Event Center thought Taylor was going to shoot the ball.

Everyone, that is, except Daaron Brown.

"He looked at me and I had (CU defender Marcus King-Stockton) sealed, so that's when I knew he was going to pass to me," said Brown, who made a tough catch of Taylor's quick pass and converted a 3-point play to give the Cowboys the lead for good in a 76-73 win.

"The guys were just talking about it and they thought Joe was going to try to dunk it, and I did too," said Wyoming head coach Steve McClain, whose team breathed a sigh of relief when Dominique Coleman's 3-point attempt at the buzzer hit the back of the rim.

Brandon Ewing scored a game-high 29 points despite picking up his fourth foul with 12 minutes, 10 seconds remaining in the second half.

Ewing watched from the bench until the 7:30 mark, when he returned and scored 13 of the Cowboys' next 14 points to give Wyoming a 71-67 lead.

"I have a lot of trust in my teammates," Ewing said. "That was real big for us to not let them pull away."

Ewing was not the only Wyoming player in foul trouble. In fact, the Cowboys had three players on the floor with four fouls from the time Ike Okoye fouled out with 6:12 remaining until the end of the game.

Colorado (2-3) took advantage, working the ball inside against the Cowboys for high-percentage shots.

"I think it hurt us defensively," McClain said. "Guys were being a little more passive than they should have been, especially Brandon."

Ten of CU's 13 made shots in the second half were from close range, including Richard Roby's layup that pulled Colorado to within 71-69 with 1:07 remaining. Roby, who finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, then hit a turnaround jumper to tie the score with 36 seconds to play.

Coleman stole the ensuing inbounds pass and converted a layup on the baseline to give the Buffaloes their first lead of the second half, setting up Brown's decisive 3-point play.

"I know I was holding my breath," Wyoming guard Brad Jones said of Taylor's pass to Brown, who finished with five points and 10 rebounds.

"I actually thought he was going to shoot the ball, so I was going to crash the boards, but he made a great pass to Daaron."

Jones, who finished with 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds, came away with a steal on Colorado's next possession and had a chance to ice the game when Colorado's Xavier Silas was whistled for an intentional foul. But Jones made only 1 of 2 free throws, as did Eric Platt when he was fouled immediately with 8.6 seconds left, giving the Buffaloes one last chance to tie.

"The two question marks were we turned the ball over too many times and we didn't make our free throws, and we know both of those are fixable," McClain said after the Cowboys shot just 10 for 21 from the line and committed 17 turnovers.

Colorado, which entered the game shooting a woeful 54 percent from the line, struggled again in that department Sunday. The Buffaloes made 15 of 25 free throws and just 4 of their 19 3-point attempts.

Coleman paced CU with 18 points, while Jermyl Jackson-Wilson added 16.

Contact sports reporter Scott Allen at (307) 266-0528 or scott.allen@casperstartribune.net

COWBOYS TRACKER

SUNDAY: Wyoming 76, Colorado 73.

RECORDS: Cowboys (4-1, 0-0 Mountain West Conference); Buffaloes (2-3, 0-0 Big 12 Conference).

KEY STAT: Brandon Ewing shot 6-for-11 from beyond the arc and scored a game-high 29 points.

ATTENDANCE: 2,288

UP NEXT: Wyoming hosts Colorado School of Mines on Wednesday at 7 p.m.