Nobody dumped a cooler of Gatorade on Kansas University basketball coach Roy Williams on Wednesday night.

Yet a mild celebration did break out in the visitorsâ locker room at TulsaâÂÂs Reynolds Center after the Jayhawksâ first road victory of the 2002-03 season.

âÂÂThis is much better than losing,â KU sophomore guard Michael Lee said after the No. 20-ranked Jayhawksâ 89-80 victory against No. 17 TU.

âÂÂI told Moulaye, âÂÂ’It feels much better when you are winning, doesnâÂÂt it?â He said, âÂÂ’Yeah it does,âÂÂâÂÂâ Lee said.

Some of KUâÂÂs freshmen, including Moulaye Niang, learned how sweet road wins feel. Prior to Wednesday, the Jayhawks (4-3) had lost at Oregon and to Florida and North Carolina in New York.

âÂÂAt Oregon, it was not that we were selfish,â senior Nick Collison said of last SaturdayâÂÂs 84-79 defeat. âÂÂWe were not passing the ball and guys were panicking. This game we seemed to get more running opportunities. We were moving the ball. WeâÂÂre happy with how we played and happy to get a win.âÂÂ

Williams praised the Jayhawksâ perimeter defense against Tulsa after Kansas forced 22 turnovers.

Yet the offense, which produced 16 assists against 15 turnovers, finally clicked.

Point guard Aaron Miles dished nifty passes to KU big men Collison and Wayne Simien, who scored 26 and 19 points, respectively. Kansas also scored 53 points off 59.3 percent shooting in the second half.

âÂÂFor the last two days at practice, weâÂÂve talked about being more patient (on offense),â Williams said. âÂÂThat showed in the second half.âÂÂ

For the game, KU hit three of 11 threes — including two by Collison. In the second half, the Jayhawks made just two jump shots for baskets — the rest of their buckets were lay-ups, dunks and shots in the lane.

âÂÂOur game is to get the ball inside close to the basket. With Nick Collison and Wayne Simien you ought to get the ball inside,â Williams said. âÂÂIf we go to the basket weâÂÂre going to get fouled and hopefully their big men will not be in the game.âÂÂ

Miles scored 15 points with eight assists and four turnovers, while Kirk Hinrich, who missed nine of 11 shots for four points, contributed four assists and three turnovers.

Several accurate Hinrich passes went to Jayhawks who were fouled. No assists are credited on such plays. The Jayhawks hit 24 of 36 free throws to TUâÂÂs eight of 12.

Collison made eight charities and Miles six without a miss; Hinrich was 0-for-3 and Keith Langford 3-of-8. For the year, Hinrich has made 58.3 percent of his free throws and Langford 48.7 percent.

Langford was asked about âÂÂbeing on fireâ the second half, when he scored 14 of his 19 points.

âÂÂI was on fire everywhere but the line,â the sophomore said. âÂÂI donâÂÂt know whatâÂÂs going on there. I just have to keep working on it and will.âÂÂ

KU will meet Emporia State at 7 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

âÂÂHopefully this will be a big game for us. The kids feel really good right now. We feel fantastic,â Williams said.

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Recruiting: The Jayhawks were awarded a day off on Thursday. There was no rest for Williams, however, as he headed to St. Louis for recruiting and to watch signee J.R. Giddensâ Oklahoma City Marshall team play in the KMOX Shootout.

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Scheduling Tulsa: Williams wishes other national powers would schedule Tulsa, a team that has had a rough time bringing teams to Reynolds Center, which attracted a record crowd of 8,555 on Wednesday. Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Alabama and Oklahoma State have declined contract offers.

âÂÂThe problem is people donâÂÂt want to come to Tulsa because of how good Tulsa is,â Williams said, âÂÂand how little respect Tulsa has, which is absurd.âÂÂ