Oklahoma State's Offensive Issues on Full Display Against Houston
Oklahoma State has many issues, and they might not be fixed this season.
Entering their Big 12 opener on Monday, the Cowboys had hopes that the 2024-25 campaign could begin a new, better chapter than the ones in previous years. While the Cowboys were picked to finish near the bottom of the Big 12, there was still hope the team could exceed expectations and at least be among the middle of the pack in one of the nation’s toughest conferences.
There are still another 19 conference games left and plenty of weeks left to improve. However, the Cowboys lost 60-47 against Houston, showing their offensive struggles could be here to stay.
Not only did OSU shoot only 25.9% from the floor, it shot a staggeringly bad 3-of-22 on layups. Somehow, its 4-of-19 mark from beyond the arc made the 3-point shot a far better option than a shot near the rim.
OSU’s 47 points were a season-low. Throughout the Mike Boynton era, scoring in the 40s in one of the first Big 12 games became something of an expectation, with OSU’s season-low 42 points in 2023-24 coming in the team’s third Big 12 contest at Iowa State.
However, with Steve Lutz and his fast-paced attack in the mix, it seemed like those days could be behind the Cowboys, especially after scoring at least 76 points in the first eight games. Of course, Lutz noted that the team would not be able to score 80+ points when Big 12 play came around. While there were no real doubts about what he said, a dropoff to scoring under 50 points, which happened only once last season, was still surprising.
OSU will need to get its offense together if it wants any shot of competing in the Big 12. While Houston is among the best in the country and could hold just about any team to a bad shooting night, OSU’s opponents will fit that description quite often, and it needs to overcome those challenges.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.