STILLWATER, OKLA. — Suffice it to say, Drew Gooden was ready to play on Tuesday night.
"I came out focused. My eyes got big when I was setting screens," Gooden, Kansas' junior forward, said after scoring 17 points in the Jayhawks' 79-61 victory over Oklahoma State.
"I knew I had to come out and play and make some shots to help my team."
Gooden, who scored 13 of KU's first 22 points in helping the Jayhawks to a 22-4 lead, was miffed at himself after scoring 22 points and grabbing 10 boards in Saturday's 10-point loss at UCLA. He hit seven of 17 shots in that game.
"I took those first two open threes against UCLA and they rimmed in and out. I felt if they went in it'd been a big momentum swing for us," Gooden said. "Tonight I came out focused. Teams like Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas will get some home wins. It's important to win on the road if you want to win the conference."
KU improved to 3-0 in conference play heading into Saturday's noon home battle against Oklahoma. The Jayhawks are 14-2 overall.
"There was no different mood before UCLA and after UCLA," Gooden said. "It takes determination, attitude and discipline to win."
Technically speaking: Oklahoma State's Fredrik Jonzen received a second-half technical for yelling something at either an official or KU player. Nobody in KU's locker room could decipher what the player said. Jonzen finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Record setter: Roy Williams on Jeff Boschee setting KU's career three point record; Boschee drilled his 270th career trey late in the first half, passing Billy Thomas, who connected for 269 from 1994-98.
"Both his threes were big shots for us," Williams said of Boschee, who hit two of three threes. "He has made a lot of baskets for us for a long time. I hope he has a lot of them left. It's a big-time accomplishment."
Stats, facts: KU is 3-0 to open league play for the seventh straight season. Williams is 6-5 versus OSU in Stillwater. KU's 22-point halftime lead was biggest in a game since Feb. 12, 2000, when KU led KSU by 27 in Manhattan. Gooden's streak of seven straight double-doubles ended. He had 17 points and seven boards. Aaron Miles had a career-high six rebounds. He had nine points, six assists and no turnovers on the stat sheet, though Williams says Miles did commit a turnover late.
Memorial: Stillwater churches will toll their bells 10 times at 6:37 p.m., Jan. 27, the exact time of last year's plane crash in Byers, Colo., that claimed the lives of 10 members of Oklahoma State's basketball traveling party.
Among those killed were KU grads Will Hancock (publicist) and Brian Luinstra (trainer).
A memorial to the 10 victims inside Gallagher-Iba Arena will be dedicated on Feb. 23, the day of the OSU-Baylor game. The memorial design will include a commissioned sculpture of a kneeling cowboy entitled, "We Will Remember."
An OSU task force of university officials and victims' family members are working on a plan for team transportation and travel policies for all OSU teams. That plan will be distributed to all Big 12 schools. It is hoped the measures will be adopted as a way of having some good come of the horrific tragedy.
Rout revisited: OSU coach Eddie Sutton still remembers the Pokes' 33-point win over KU two years ago in Stillwater. His Cowboy team reached the Elite Eight that season.
"That was about as good as we can play," Sutton said. "Gooden, Collison and Hinrich at that time were young players (freshmen). They have matured. They're a lot better now."
About OSU: Melvin Sanders, a 6-foot-5 guard/forward from Liberal, has started 47 straight games for Oklahoma State. Sutton is the first coach in NCAA history to win 250 games at two different Div. I schools. Sutton won 260 at Arkansas and entered Tuesday's game with 264 at OSU. UConn's Jim Calhoun has 349 at Connecticut and had 248 at Northeastern. Lou Henson of New Mexico State had 423 wins at Illinois and 232 at NMSU.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.