OK, Kevin Love IS good.

For those of you who couldn't watch it all, Maryland men lost tonight, 71-59.

So Kevin Love IS actually good. I really should've expected as much. He nearly had a double-double at the half. The guy is ridiculously good at blocking out and following up on missed shots for putbacks. Our freshmen... well, they looked like freshmen against a very dominant UCLA defense. All I can say is I didn't believe some of the hype about Kevin Love, but now I do. He can bang with the best of them... in college, at least.

However, I do think that every UCLA game recap should stop being an "Ode to Kevin." Seriously, as if he's the only player on the entire court. The lead is "Kevin Love is proving to be a fast learner." What does that tell you about how the press views this game?

Honestly, UCLA is the better team and they proved it. Stats:

- Their bigs picked up 26 rebounds compared to Gist and Osby getting just five. Besides rebounds, Boom was everything he could be, going 5-of-9 for 13 points, but Gist disappeared after the first couple minutes and ended up with only 7 points. He was an unbelievable 3-of-13 from the field, and I don't attribute to defense, even though UCLA's D was solid all night. Somehow Gist believed that he was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (UCLA alum/Wooden student inducted into the HOF last night) and tried to go for incredibly difficult hook shots all night. Plus, I almost threw up when he started crying after he and Boom fouled out. It was a frustrating game, but it was a game. And one we weren't supposed to win. If you want to cry when it's over, play with emotion throughout, not at the beginning and end.

- I have not really seen better perimeter defense. If not for Eric Hayes shooting a desperation 3 in the last minute, the Terps would've been shut out from beyond the arc for the first time in 8 years. Greivis played like Greivis - playing OK throughout, giving up turnovers and scoring at the end - and Hayes (bless his heart) was not athletic enough to defend Shipp or Westbrook. And surprisingly, the UCLA guards seemed much bigger than our protypical "big" guards. And faster.

- K-Love: 18 points. UMD freshmen: 8.

- K-Love: 16 rebounds. UMD freshmen: 10

I don't need to grind our team down anymore, but I hope Gary gets them back to fundamentals.

BTW: Did anyone notice in the news recap that Nick Collison left the Supersonics to play for UCLA, but now he's injured? Oh right, that's Darren Collison. My bad, Associated Press. I'm sure everyone knew who you meant.

(Thanks for the picture, though. Copyright AP.)