Downtown was quiet for a few minutes after Kansas University’s loss to Maryland Saturday night.

And then a young man exited a bar and shouted: “When does the looting start?”

It never started.

Downtown was swarming with police  more than a dozen in one block alone  who ensured that the mood, while angry and sad, didn’t turn violent.

“Lawrence is just cool enough that nothing’s going to happen,” said Ira Frydman, a recent KU grad who watched the scene. “Nobody’s going to hurt anybody.”

Perhaps. But there were plenty of people willing to scream, curse and honk their horns. The hundreds of people downtown seemed split between those who were mad  one young man could be seen outside a bar, holding forth to a reporter on his low opinion of Roy Williams  and those saying, in essence, “Wait ’till next year.”

Sarah Litherland, a KU freshman from Minnesota, was among the latter group.

“I’m really distraught that KU lost to Maryland, because KU’s the better team,” she said. “We’ll do better next year.”

Her friend Paige Dumler, a freshman from Colorado, agreed.

“Of the teams left, Kansas is the best of anyone,” Dumler said.

About an hour after the game, though, KU fans had largely given way to the usual Saturday night crowd on Massachusetts Street. Still, one young man was seen shouting into his cell phone.

“We lost!” he yelled. “I can’t believe we lost!”

Then he was silent for a moment, before talking again.

“Mom! I’m really depressed!”