Honeycutt's 33 Not Enough as Kansas Clinches Victory in Final Second
On the line historically was a 63 home-win streak. On the line literally was guard-forward Mario Little with 0.7 seconds left with the score tied at 76. The first shot went in giving the Jayhawks the lead and the win.
In the loss, Tyler Honeycutt, UCLA's sophomore forward, had one of the top performances of this early college basketball season. He had a near-perfect night, missing just four of his 15 field goal attempts, including a three-quarter court heave at the buzzer that narrowly missed its target. For every Kansas run, the Bruins answered with Honeycutt leading the charge. In the first half, he completed two "and-ones" - one three-point play, and a four-point play to silent the rowdy Kansas crowd. He also compiled 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block in the highly-contested match-up of two storied programs.
This type of performance justifies what we had seen in Honeycutt last season in his first year as a Bruin. At 6'8", he has great size for an NBA small forward, but he is a solid athlete and has a great feel for the game. His passing skills were on display, but more importantly, he seemed to have that aggressive edge that he sometimes lacks. He was looking to score every time he touched the ball- whether it was slashing to the rim, or using screens to knock down perimeter shots where he was 5-of-6 from behind the arc.
Honeycutt's stock has steadily been on the rise since we saw him play last season; he still seems a bit passive and needs to put on some additional muscle, but if he can stay focused and aggressive on the offensive end, he should continue to rise up our rankings and become a mid-late 1st round pick in June.
By President Corey Ruff - 12-3-10
