Kansas 69, Mocs 55

What an exciting night of basketball for the Mocs- and a disappointing night at the same time. In the first half, we all got to see the promise that this team holds, as the Mocs lead by twelve with abotut eighteen minutes left in the game. The Mocs did not trail (other than 2-0) until there was about 13:30 minutes left in the game.

So there is plenty to like about this game. Let's not forget, the Mocs were playing a lot of freshman and sophomores. The two "elder statesman" on the team is Z Mason and Drazen Zlovaric. Neither one of those players played two years ago. This team is young, inexperienced, and learning.

Yet, there they were, standing toe to toe with Kansas, scaring the heavily favored Jayhawks late into the second half. The Jayhawks are expected to be a Final Four contender again this year.

Can the Mocs carry this over into their remaining games? That's really the question. If the Mocs grow up and learn, and play with that kind of energy, they will win plenty of games in the SoCon. Farad Cobb shot brilliantly from three point range. He was unconcious. He may be the best shooter to come through here since Steph McDowell. At least, he looked that way tonight. He's taller than McDowell and a better defender. Again, that's based on two games, so I may be jumping the gun a bit. I'm really excited about Cobb. Gee McGhee did not shoot the ball well tonight, but he showed the ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the basket. He did a solid job of that against a very solid Kansas team. McGhee should be able to do that against most SoCon teams if he can do that against Kansas.

I felt in the second half when the Mocs weren't scoring that they were turning the ball over or throwing up long threes. Looking at the final stats, it doesn't really look like that's what happened. Yes, there were too many turnovers, with nineteen. But 23 threes out of 57 shots is not just amazingly too many. It may be a touch too many threes, but they made eleven, so you really can't complain about that. Drazen Zlovaric did not look great inside, but he will not face anyone nearly as good defensively as Jeff Withey for the rest of the year. Zlovaric did get an offensive rebound at one point where he could have gone straight back up with it, but dribbled it off his leg instead.

I feel comfortable that the Z Men (Zlovaric and Mason) can get it going once the Mocs are playing more typically mid-major teams. It's just that after watching this one, I feel much more comfortable with the idea the Cobb will be a major player, McGhee will get things going eventually, Eric Robertson will play better, and Casey Jones athleticism was shown off too. I also like the way Rico White played tonight. He only committed one turnover against the intense Jayhawks pressure. I was impressed with his ball handling.

The Mocs also were only  outrebounded by six boards by a significantly bigger Jayhawks team. This shows the effort and energy that the Mocs had in this game.

Look- I know this was a loss. But this team is probably at it's worst right now. They are only going to get better as the year goes on. Combine that with that the Mocs really threw a scare into the Jayhawks, and there is a whole lot of positives to take out of this game. Looking around the SoCon and how poorly the North has performed so far, and there is reason to think that the Mocs may be not only a contender in the SoCon North, but also to win the SoCon.

We'll  know much more after next weeks four games. This week is  massive for the Mocs. They need to build off this game and come out and play really well in these next four.

Another point- I really like what I heard from Coach Shulman tonight after the game about how upset the team was to lose this game. That is very good news. Last year's team lacked that feeling, it seemed like. This year's team does not. This team is 100% likable. I really enjoy watching them play. This is nice. On top of that, Z Mason sounded like a team leader after the game. I know he's been acting like a team leader all offseason, but he sounded like exactly the kind of person I want leading this team in the postgame interview. I like Z Mason a lot.

GO MOCS!