We hung with the #2 team in the country for the majority of the game, proved we at least somewhat belonged on the floor with our two star players being pretty much non-existent for a large portion of the game. Can't be too angry about it.
Their defensive intensity, size on the perimeter and ability to switch everything, and second chance points in the last 10 minutes made the difference. We still showed up like a top 10 team (perhaps not top 5) should be expected to do. Also, man Curbelo impressed me.......true freshman in his 4th game of his career and really took it to the second best team in the country. Dude is a freakin' baller.
This game did once again highlight to me why I've always been baffled with Kofi NBA talk. Modern NBA bigs need to either have range, or be quick and mobile enough to guard the pick and roll effectively (which is the bread and butter of current NBA offenses). Right now Kofi can do neither and would 100% go undrafted.
People forget we lost to Arizona, Miami, and Mizzou at a similar point in time last year and we turned out fine. Overall we look a lot better this season at the same point and I saw a lot of encouraging things that should help against Duke and the B1G.
(P.S I always love the comments you sometimes find in postgame threads re: everyone's favorite magic word *
adjustments*. If it really was that easy to just tell the players "pass the ball and cut to the hoop !11!11!" then any schmuck off the street could coach college basketball. That's not how it works.)