After a big win over Colorado at home, head coach Kyle Smith and the WSU men’s basketball team control their own destiny in the 2023–24 season. A driving factor in their success has been their dominance on their home court.

Overall, the team is 15-6 and 6-4 in Pac-12 play, but that is realistically only that high due to their home-court play. In true road matches, the team is just 2-3 and in neutral site games they are 2-2. While decent records, they are not elite, especially compared to the 11-1 record the team boasts in Beasley. 

In their three most recent home games, WSU beat No. 8 Arizona, Utah and Colorado, all very good teams in their own right. 

“Shout out to the ZZU CRU, the fans, everyone who came. It was electric in there,” Jaylen Wells  said after the Colorado win. “You feel like a family here.” 

In that game against Colorado, 3,273 fans were in attendance and the team fed off the energy, but some individuals notably fed off that energy more. 

Freshman defensive guru Rueben Chinyelu had three huge blocks to stuff out Colorado attacks, with one causing the big man to point at his opposition and hit the “too small” celebration before stomping on it and squishing his foot on the hardwood like he was squishing a bug. 

Fans were already ecstatic after a massive block, but when Rueben hit the celebration, the fans got even louder.

“They are out there for us, so you have to give them something to be out for,” Chinyelu said. “Got to give them some fire so they keep pouring on the flame.” 

It is understandable why fans can create such a difference. In college basketball especially, energy can be the difference between a close win and a huge loss. Time and time again, the ZZU CRU and the greater student section has increased their efforts for the current basketball season, something made easier by the team playing so well at home. 

“They get hype, I get hype,” Chinyelu said. “It is beautiful to have [fans] and I appreciate them so much. I would like to see more than them.” 

At home on offense, the Cougs are shooting an exact 50% from the field, 35.9% from three and are averaging 86.0 points per game. Away from their humble Beasley Coliseum, those averages decrease to 42.8% from the field, 31.2% from three and an average of 69.4 points. 

While some changes are more drastic than others, the Cougs offense does not translate as well when they are away from their home court. But what has been a more drastic change has been their defense.

At home, the Cougs are averaging an absurd 6.8 blocks per game (with the caveat they had several huge block performances against out-of-conference opponents) and 7.0 steals per game. However, on the road, they are averaging just 4.9 blocks per game and 3.9 steals. 

Regressing on the road is understandable and specifically, the difference in offensive production is not an insurmountable difference for the Cougs. Still, their change in forcing turnovers has been vital in several of the road losses the Cougs have suffered this season. 

Notably, their loss to Cal in overtime and to Colorado at the beginning of the Pac-12 schedule happened due to defensive collapses. 

Playing at home has likely stolen a few wins for the Cougs, thanks in part to the fans playing behind their players. The 5-point win over Boise State, 3-point win over Arizona and 7-point win over Oregon State were aided by fan support. 

On the road, the Santa Clara and Cal losses could have conceivably been flipped with more beneficial fan conditions, but that is the beauty of sports. 

Luckily for the Cougs, out of the 10 final games on the regular season docket, five are at home. While none will be easy victories, wins in all five are not out of the question. If Smith and Co. take care of business at home, they will end the season with 20-plus wins. 

On top of that, there are five additional opportunities to win road games and several games in the Pac-12 Tournament if a run is in the cards. 

Teams always want to be in the driver’s seat of their NCAA Tournament candidacy and that is exactly where the Cougs are at after a strong mid-season surge led by Chinyelu, Wells, Isaac Jones, Oscar Cluff and Myles Rice and a revamped student section.