Ames, Iowa — Kansas University junior forward Drew Gooden might hail from California, but he wanted Wednesday night's 88-81 victory over Iowa State just as badly as the Jayhawks' Iowans did.
"I feel good to finally get them a win," Gooden, of Richmond, Calif., said of juniors Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich, who both call the Hawkeye State home. "They were oh-and-4 against Iowa State just like me, and I wanted to get a win. I felt like I was part of them getting a win, too. We finally got our win against Iowa State. We're still 1-4, but we're trying to get that up to .500 against Iowa State before we leave."
Gooden was so relieved, as the final horn sounded he spiked the ball and yelled in celebration as it hung high above the Hilton Coliseum floor.
He said the act of basketball abuse was in response to former Cyclones Jamaal Tinsley and Marcus Fizer pulling the same stunt during recent ISU victories at Allen Fieldhouse.
"I finally got a win in Ames," said Gooden, who had team-highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds. "Last year after this game I couldn't play I was in the locker room just crying, knowing how bad I wanted to win. This year, I was really driven to win and that was just releasing my frustration."
KU coach Roy Williams experienced some frustration of his own, briefly benching his standout forward in the second half after Gooden missed a three-pointer and then didn't play defense as Iowa State's Tyray Pearson dunked on the other end.
"I didn't pout like a little kid," Gooden said of being banished to the pine. "Ask coach. It shows the maturity I have."
Gooden also showed his athleticism with a steal and showtime slam during a 10-3 second-half sizz that helped the Jayhawks gain a game-high 12-point edge at 62-50 with 14:23 remaining.
"I thought we were going to take off right then, but they kept fighting back," Gooden said of the Cyclones. "I think they got the crowd going and (Jake) Sullivan hit some big-time shots for them. The crowd got into it and that's the worse thing you can do, let the crowd get into it on the road."
As for the acrobatic dunk?
"Did you like that?" Gooden said with a sly smile. "I did 'Rock the Cradle' like Michael Jordan did at North Carolina. It probably didn't look as clean as when he did it, but it was something."
As proud as he was of his dunk, though, Gooden was downright giddy following senior guard Jeff Boschee's three-pointer with 36 seconds remaining gave Kansas an 84-81 lead.
Following the trey, Gooden wrapped his arms around Boschee and whispered sweet nothings in his ear.
"I said, 'That was a big-time shot. We needed that,'" Gooden explained. "That put us up a bit."
Although the Jayhawks pulled away late, Gooden was more than impressed by Iowa State's effort and the not-quite-sold-out-but-just-as-loud crowd of 12,771.
"They played great," Gooden said. "I told the guys before the game, 'They're 9-10, but don't let their record fool you.' They played hard, they were aggressive and they've got a lot of heart."
Next for the Jayhawks is Saturday's afternoon game at Texas A&M. Tipoff is 3 p.m. in College Station, Texas.
Sports writer Robert Sinclair can be reached at 832-7185.
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