Mocs 88, Tennessee Temple 53

The Mocs were far from perfect. They did not shoot the three well tonight, making just 2 of 22 from long range. They committed too many turnovers- eighteen of them in fact. That's far too many against a school like Tennessee Temple. They allowed the Crusaders to shoot 40% from the floor- I would have preferred a little bit better defense against Tennessee Temple.

But, man oh man, it was a fun game to watch if you were a Mocs fan.

The Mocs absolutely dominated the glass. Considering that the Crusaders were a very tall team and were expected the challenge the Mocs inside, this was a good sign. They collected 25 offensive rebounds compared to just 19 defensive rebounds for the Crusaders. That is uttter domination on the glass. The Mocs should be very pleased with that effort. Drazen Zlovaric collected eight rebounds, Jared Bryant had seven, while Z Mason and Martynas Bareika each had five. Zlovaric had six offensive rebounds, while Mason and Lance Stokes each collected three. This was just one area that really stood out for the Mocs.

The other area that just jumps off a scoresheet is the 35 forced turnovers by the Mocs. The Mocs played a trap press defense for a large chunk of the game, and the Crusaders simply did not have a prayer of coming up with an answer. The 23 steals by the Mocs tonight were a school record. Farad Cobb set a freshman record for steals in a game with six. He also had three assists and eight points on 3 of 11 shooting. He made just 1 of 3 from the free throw line. But Cobb made a move down the line towards the baseline late the game that he made the basket and got fouled on that showed the kind of explosive talent that he is.

Gee McGhee, Casey Jones, and Eric Robertson each showed signs of athleticism and explosiveness. In fact, all of the Mocs showed signs of athleticism. Last year's team rarely showed that much explosiveness. It was a lot of fun to watch the Mocs tonight, because they were showing off skills that were lacking last year. Not only that, they showed heart and hustle that was sorely missing at times last year. There was energy that I had not seen in at least a year or two for the Mocs. This was a very positive direction for the team.

There were clearly some first game jitters. That explains the lack of shooting. They had good looks, the ball looked good leaving their hands, but they just weren't falling. That's OK. They did not need all their shots to fall tonight. They need their shots to fall against Kansas, and (maybe even more importantly) starting Sunday in the CBE Classic, against SE Missouri, Troy, and Louisiana Tech.

On the whole, the game was very good for the Mocs. They showed promise for the future. They showed some explosiveness and athleticism. They showed a defense that, if implemented well, could be very good against some of the mid-major teams on the schedule. This team has a chance to be good.

It should be a fun ride.

GO MOCS!