Kansas vs BYU: Player Ratings to the Theme of Names for Cougars

A disaster at Allen, but the ratings surge forward.

Author:
Derek Noll
Publish date:
Feb 28, 2024 1:07 PM EST

In this story:

Well, that stunk. So instead of delving deeper into what can only be described as yet another bad loss by Kansas, we’ll teach you a little biology. Well, kinda.

The Big 12 added four teams to the conference and TWO of them have Cougars as a mascot. Ok, then. And you probably know that the term cougar is generally interchangeable with several other names for the exact same animal, and yet, very few college teams opt for anything other than cougar. Unlike the player’s inevitably low ratings, you’ll see the tern cougar lower in today’s ratings than you might have expected. Anyway, on to the ratings and as always, here’s the way we rate the players, but feel free to skip over by using the table of contents.

5 Stars: Out of this world performance. This is a hard to achieve rating and is only reserved for the most impressive or impressionable performances.

4.5 Stars: Very strong performance, packed the stat sheet, provided undeniable intangibles.

4 Stars: A strong performance that falls just short of the standards above.

3 Stars: Average performance. Also could be a very strong game in one aspect but a very poor game in another such as 15 points but seven turnovers. Could also be that the player played, did their job, but didn't do much spectacularly.

2 Stars: Below average performance, or we simply have higher expectations for the player on this particular night.

1 Star: Rare, but if a player has a stinker in all aspects.

5 Stars: Puma

Personally, I think this is the best of the possible names for this magnificent animal. Plus, I like the shoe company by the same name, so it’s a natural five star.

No one was a five star

4.5 Stars: Mountain Lion

According to the National Wildlife Federation, Mountain Lion is the most appropriate name to use when referring to this majestic North American cat. A proper name will always rate high on a list like this.

No one was a four and a half.

4 Stars: Catamount

Probably the coolest name on the list, but also the most obscure. The Catamount would be higher if it basically wasn’t a conglomerate on the words cat and mountain. There are two Catamounts in division one college basketball.

No one was a four.

3 Stars: Panther

I guess I really didn’t know that panther was another name for the Mountain Lion, although it’s usually used in the south where there are no mountains. There are five Panthers in division one college basketball.

Dajuan Harris and KJ Adams were the best players for KU on the night. But they still combined for nine of twenty-one shooting. KJ had 11 points and Dajuan finished with 12 points and six assists.

The bench was fine in this one, albeit not great. Jamari McDowell nailed his lone three, Kansas’s only three until very late in desperation mode and Elmarko Jackson and Parker Braun each found the bottom of the basket, Braun with four points and Marko with two. These dudes weren’t the reason that Kansas lost.

Let's call this a 2.5 star performance because I’m going to give Nick Timberlake a slight break in this one because he was probably dealing with pain. He crashed to the floor early and had to be carried off by his teammates and training staff. But come on man, he was one of nine from the floor and only made one late, ultimately pointless three.

2 Stars: Cougar

This name would be higher on the list if one seventh of the conference didn’t use it as a mascot. I’m not saying you have to be as unique as the Jayhawks (no one is), but dang. There are six Cougars in division one college basketball and the Big XII has a third of them.

Johnny Furphy scored ten points and had nine rebounds, but the Aussie went oh for five from distance in a game where Kansas desperately needed to build a barrier between themselves and the Cougs.

I was tempted to give Hunter Dickinson a one star for the absolutely atrocious free throw shooting, but the big guy did score 17 and grab 10 rebounds. But in a game where Kansas needed separation, Dickinson failed to provide that going 6-15 from the freethrow stripe. Abysmal.