LARAMIE, Wyo. -- Wyoming used a 35-10 run to close out the first half and run away with a 97-78 win over Cornell on Saturday evening at the Arena-Auditorium. The game, the Big Red's first in nearly three weeks due to exams, is the first of four straight prior to Christmas as part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational.

Sophomore Stone Gettings scored a career-high 23 points and added six rebounds, while classmate Troy Whiteside scored a career-best 17 points and Matt Morgan chipped in 16. The Big Red outscored the Cowboys 50-41 after halftime, but at that point the damage was done.

The home team, who has won better than 85 percent of its non-conference home games over the last 35 years, shot 47 percent from the floor and outscored the visitors 18-2 on second chance opportunities. Hayden Dalton had 27 points and 11 rebounds to lead Wyoming, while Louis Adams had 24 points and six boards. Jason McManamen (15 points) and Alan Herndon (12 points) were also in double figures for the home team.

The Cowboys jumped out quick to a 12-2 lead before the Big Red wsa able to steady itself, getting back within 21-18 on a Whiteside trey with 9:48 remaining in the first half. It was still a five-point game two minutes later before the home team took control. A quick 5-0 spurt pushed the lead back to double figures and began a run where it scored on 13 of its final 19 possessions to turn a one-possession game into a 56-28 halftime lead.

The Big Red never folded, scoring at will after the break with Gettings and Morgan each scoring 16 points after the break. The Big Red shot 57 percent (16-of-28) after halftime, but that wasn't nearly enough to overcome Wyoming's advantage. 

NOTES TO KNOW
• A pair of Big Red sophomores, Stone Gettings (23) and Troy Whiteside (17) each posted career scoring highs.
• Cornell scored 50 second half points, its first 50-point half since also oscoring 50 in the decisive second half in a home win over Siena last December.
• Senior Robert Hatter had five points, moving him within 15 points of becoming the school's 26th 1,000-point scorer.
• Wyoming's Arena-Auditorium sits 7,220 feet above sea level - more than 1.36 miles - and is highest Division I basketball court.
• The Cowboys have a 216-37 (.854) non-conference record all-time at the Arena-Auditorium.
• Wyoming is the 47th state Cornell has played a basketball game in - the only remaining holdouts are Alaska, North Dakota and Mississippi.

NEXT UP
• The Big Red will play its second contest in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational when it visits USC on Monday, Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m. PT.
• It will be Cornell's first game against USC since dropping a 77-58 contest on Dec. 28, 1954 in Raleigh, N.C. as part of the Dixie Classic.