Oklahoma State's Anemic Shooting Leads to Big 12 Opener 60-47 Blowout Loss to Houston

STILLWATER – Poor shooting doomed Oklahoma State in the first half, with the Cowboys never recovering as they lose their Big 12 opener to No. 14 Houston, 60-47.

With the loss, the Cowboys fell to 8-4 on the season, 0-1 in Big 12 play, and will travel to Morgantown, WV, for a showdown with the Mountaineers this coming Saturday at 11 a.m.

“Let’s just give [Houston] credit, I mean they’re a good defensive team, the No. 3 defensive team in the country, but we manufactured enough shots that were open, and we missed them,” said Steve Lutz after the loss to Houston. “Some of that has got to fall on myself and the staff, and some of that’s got to fall on the players. Let’s give [Houston] credit, defensively they’re really, really good. With that being said, you can’t miss 20 layups, or 18 layups, whatever we missed, in any game, much less a Big 12 game against the No. 13 team in the country and expect to win.”

Brandon Newman and Robert Jennings II led the way in scoring for the Pokes, Newman with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the floor. Jennings II finished with 10 points on 2-of-6 shooting from the floor and 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

The Cowboys outrebounded the Cougars, 39-34, scoring 10 second chance points. They turned the ball over 14 times, leading to 16 points on the other end. They forced 12 turnovers, scoring just seven points on the turnovers.

The Cowboys started the game off well enough on the defensive end, leading the Cougars 17-11, with just over 10 minutes left in the first half. That’s when the wheels fell off a bit as the Cougars finished the next 10 minutes on a 17-1 run to go into halftime leading 28-18. 

The Cowboys shot just 22% from the field and just 12% from 3-point range. They were, however, 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the first half, whereas the Cougars didn’t attempt a free throw.

Shooting in the second half was a bit better for the Pokes the first few minutes of the second half but trailed off by the 10-minute mark. They did, however. Battle back to cut a 15-point Houston lead down to just 10 points at the 13-minute mark. 

The problem is Houston kept their lead at 10 points at the fewest, then back up to 16 points just under eight minutes left in the game.

The Cougars extended their lead up to 21 points on a three from CJ Cryer, 55-34, just over four minutes left in the game.