Stat of the Week: OSU’s Home Shooting Woes Are Not an Illusion

The Cowboys suffered a disappointing home loss to Kansas State on Wednesday, ruining a manufactured holiday and no doubt killing the mood for OSU fans everywhere.

There is plenty to point to to explain the outcome — poor defensive effort and execution, more turnovers than assists, being outscored 24-15 off of the bench. But sometimes it’s as simple as making shots and the Cowboys couldn’t find the inside of the rim for much of the night, especially in the first half.

In an opening period that ended with just 20 points and the Cowboys down 17, OSU shot an abysmal 23.5 percent from the field (8 of 34) and 16.7 percent from 3 (2 of 12). Shot selection was surely to blame as well as an inability to get anything going in the paint.

Oklahoma State heated up in the second half, going 19-31 from the field (61.3 percent) and 4 of 8 from 3, but the damage was done. You can’t go down 20 and expect to dig yourself out of that hole, especially if you’re OSU.

“We settled quite a bit in the first half and took a lot of contested jumpers,” said Mike Boynton. “That played right into their hands. They will let you shoot jump shots over a contested hand for 40 minutes and we did that for 20 (minutes). Then we attacked the basket more in the second half and got better looks. Therefore, our offense is better.”

While that explains the issues on Wednesday night, it doesn’t address a trend that defies logic. The Cowboys shoot significantly worse at home in conference games than they do on the road.

Let’s take a look at the home/road splits in Big 12 play.

There it is, in all of its baffling glory.

The Pokes wouldn’t be considered a great 3-point shooting team inside any building, but the difference between home and away is staggering.

Of course the other stat that’s been brought up is OSU’s is 5-0 record on Saturdays against its 0-8 results week in league play. This one is coincidental for sure but both are equally perplexing.

Does this backward shooting variance benefit the Cowboys on defense, at least? Unfortunately not. Teams in GIA are shooting worse against OSU than they are away from GIA, but the numbers are still not impressive for the Pokes on that side of the ball.

Quirky side stat: OSU has made 188 shots against Big 12 teams inside Gallagher-Iba Arena and allowed 188 made shots at home. But visitors made those on 24 fewer attempts and 11 more of those were 3s. Not exactly a recipe for success.

Whatever the reason for OSU’s shooting better on the road, let’s hope — at least for this Saturday — for that trend to continue.