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That I think OJ Mayo could use another year of college is secondary to the fact that every time I run the Mock Draft Lottery on ESPN.com, he lands no lower than 11th. If that’s how it plays out in the real world, he’s as good as gone, meaning his last game in a USC uni will go down as a major disappointment. In a matchup of two of the nation’s best freshman, OJ actually came in third, behind Kansas State’s Michael Beasley and Bill Walker (oddly ignored in the pregame frosh-hype), as the Wildcats eliminated the Trojans 80-67 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night.

While Mayo didn’t exactly hoist Troy on his back and lead them to victory, he didn’t get a ton of help, either. Whistles undid SC’s best laid plans. Taj Gibson, saddled with foul trouble from the get go and limited to 28 minutes overall, was a non-factor, unable to be aggressive on either end. Davon Jefferson was effective in spurts (7-9, 15 points) but was weighed down by foul problems of his own. Keith Wilkinson picked up four personals in 21 minutes. For a team that has struggled offensively all year and relied on lock down D to get ‘er done, the inability to body up hard on K-State hurt. A lot.

Back to Mayo. I don’t think he was as bad as his 6-16 line might suggest. He was clearly the focus of the Wildcats defense and wasn’t hot from the get go, but Mayo found a groove over the first ten minutes of the second half, when the Trojans erased a ten point K-State halftime lead. He scored, got to the line, moved the ball well, played some defense, and generally looked like the guy CBS hoped he would be when the tourney committee slotted this game.

(Side note: Holy crap, Beasley is good.)

While SC struggled offensively, they were shredded on the other end, not just by Beasley (23/11) and Walker (22/5), but by more random dudes like freshman forward Ron Anderson, who entered the game averaging all of 3.1 ppg and blew up for 10. Reserve guard Jacob Pullen (yet another freshman) was good for 11 points and five dimes. After the Trojans managed to gain a 48-47 lead on a Mayo steal, layup and free throw at the 13:06 mark of the second half, Kansas State outscored USC 33-19 the rest of the way.

Faced with a situation where the D couldn’t bail them out, the same near total lack of offensive flow displayed by Tim Floyd’s gang all season- otherwise known as “Give OJ the ball and see if he can do something”- was replicated tonight. The Trojans couldn’t manufacture points with any sort of consistency, reflected in a 42% mark from the floor, and a critical 1-11 stretch over the final ten minutes while K-State pulled away.

Like I mentioned, I think it would benefit Mayo’s game to spend one more year in college, where he could polish his decision making skills and overall floor game, both tough things to learn at the pro level… but it won’t happen. Still, The Year of the Mayo, while disappointing in a lot of ways, should be considered a success. Tons of exposure, and enough juice to lead to a great recruiting class for next year, guys who will join a seniorless team. Like Texas when Kevin Durant left, there’s a good chance the Trojans will actually be a better team with Mayo in the pros.

Brian Kamenetzky hosts the Lakers Blog and Blue Notes: A Dodgers Blog for the LA Times.com. He’s a contributing writer to ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, and can be heard regularly on the Steve Mason Show, on 710 ESPN radio in LA. Write him at bk@sportshubla.com.

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