UCLA 106, Mocs 65

Well, that was unfortunate. It wasn't like it was completely unexpected that UCLA would win against the Mocs on Sunday night, but Moc fans were hoping for a better performance than that. It was disappointing. At the end of the game, Coach Will Wade apologized for the team's performance.

In a conference where teams have been getting hammered repeatedly, this loss may not be quite as bad as it appears at first glance. Everyone has been losing in blowout fashion to teams in the SoCon. The Mocs had not lost in blowout fashion yet. So this was their one game.

Martynas Bareika had a very solid game. He scored 17 points on 5 of 9 shooting from thre point range. He only played 20 minutes in the game. It was the sort of shooting performance the Mocs have been waiting to get from someone all year. If Bareika can play like that in a couple of games against mid-major competition, that would give the Mocs a huge opportunity.

Gee McGhee had one of his worst games as a Moc. He scored just five points. He did collect five rebounds.

Z Mason was kept off the boards. He collected just one rebound, though he did put up 15 points. Greg Pryor collected six assists against two turnovers, though he had just five points on 2 of 9 shooting.

The Mocs were badly outrebounded on the night. They did not do a good job forcing turnovers. They did a decent job of not turning the ball over. The Mocs defense was not good at all. They allowed UCLA to shoot over 65% on eFG%. That's really not good.

Wade said this game the Mocs did not compete. There may be some truth in that. In reality, coming off a heartbreaking loss on Friday night to Nevada and playing in an intimidating environment and playing the single most talented team the Mocs will face all year, this kind of performance should have been expected. I was hoping the Mocs would keep it closer than 41 points. But they didn't.

Now, the Mocs head to Las Vegas to take on Morehead State (who just beat Nevada and played UCLA within eleven) and will then face either Gardner-Webb or IUPUI. This is a big couple of days for the Mocs as they try to win their first game against a D1 team.

GO MOCS!