Kansas sophomore Darrell Arthur strikes a pose. Arthur returns to his home state, Texas, tonight as Kansas University's leading scorer when the Jayhawks take on the Longhorns in Austin.

Kansas sophomore Darrell Arthur strikes a pose. Arthur returns to his home state, Texas, tonight as Kansas University's leading scorer when the Jayhawks take on the Longhorns in Austin.

Austin, Texas ? Darrell Arthur arrived in the Lone Star State on Sunday on a business trip, not a personal vacation.

Thus he can only dream about what it’d be like to hop in his mom Sandra’s car after tonight’s Kansas University-Texas game and make the three-hour drive north to his childhood home in Dallas for some rest, relaxation and home cooking.

“I love my mom’s steak. It’s really good,” Arthur said longingly, leaving to one’s imagination how big a T-bone it’d take to satisfy the appetite of KU’s 6-foot-9, 225-pound sophomore power forward. “When I went home for a break last summer, first thing I told her was, ‘Please make me a steak.”’

Sandra Arthur gladly complied.

And if she could kidnap her son after today’s 8 p.m. showdown between No. 4-ranked Kansas (23-1 overall, 8-1 Big 12 Conference) and No. 12 Texas (19-4, 6-2) at Erwin Center, she’d satisfy Darrell’s craving for tender Texas beef.

“He loves coming back (to Texas). He likes steak and shrimp, hot wings, M&M’s and Oreo cookies,” Sandra Arthur revealed.

Darrell Arthur – he feasted on Texas school Baylor for 23 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday’s 100-90 victory over the Bears – has much in common with former KU guard/native Texan Keith Langford in regards to Texas fast-food fare.

“I love Jack in the Box,” Arthur said of Langford’s favorite establishment. “I like the potato wedges, the cheddar cheese fries. We’ve got a couple of places in Dallas I like a lot. Williams Chicken is pretty good, too.”

Langford, who grew up in Fort Worth and who now plays for the Austin (Texas) Toros of the NBA Development League, likes to brag on his home state.

Arthur does, too.

“It’s just a nice place to be,” Arthur said of Texas. “Everybody who is from Texas loves Texas. They are always going to rep (represent) Texas. They are always going to rep the Cowboys, the Mavericks, Houston Rockets or (Houston) Texans. I mean, it’s because they love Texas. It’s a good place to be.”

Homesick no more

A year ago at this time, it might have been tough to convince Arthur to get on the team bus after the game.

Admittedly, he was homesick.

Not so much anymore.

“I don’t have any (homesickness),” said Arthur. “My family comes to a lot of games. It’s pretty cool now.”

Why was he struck with homesickness last year?

“It was my first time ever being away from home, so it was a big, new experience, a big change,” said Arthur, who admitted if he was not playing ball at KU, it’d be at a Texas school – likely Baylor, in spite of the fact he grew up a Texas Longhorn football fan.

“I was calling home every day last year. I’d never been away from my family that long. That was getting to me. But this year, I’m cool. I don’t call home much, once a week or two weeks.”

Sandra Arthur can attest to that.

“I haven’t had to come down (to Lawrence) as much as I did last year,” she said. “He’s growing up. He’s very mature. Every time I come down to KU I see the difference.”

On the rise

Arthur unquestionably has improved from his freshman to sophomore campaigns.

A year ago, when he preferred coming off the bench to starting, Arthur averaged 9.8 points and 4.7 rebounds a game. This year, he’s first on the team in scoring (13.7) and second in rebounding (6.0).

“Since last year, I think I’ve gotten a lot better,” Arthur said, “with coach (Danny) Manning helping me on the post and coach (Bill) Self guiding me through the year.”

“I haven’t really thought about it,” Arthur added, of being KU’s top point producer this season. “Everybody is around the same number. It’s a different guy every night.”

Arthur, who has made 53.1 percent of his shots and 69.5 percent of his free throws, leads the team in one negative category – fouls.

He has 69 in 24 games, eight more than Sasha Kaun. In league play, Arthur has 28 fouls in nine games, one more than team runner-up Kaun. Arthur committed three fouls while playing just two minutes the first half of last Monday’s 90-71 victory over Missouri. Saturday against Baylor, he responded with just two fouls in 33 minutes.

“I was using my hands too much, a lot like last year,” said Arthur, who had 103 fouls in 38 games his rookie season. “I put my hands on them, and they call the touch fouls.

“I have to keep my space between the player and the ball, try to back off them a little more. I was playing on them a little too close, up with the body.”

‘We need you in the game’

Self said keeping Arthur out of foul trouble the rest of the season and postseason is critical.

“His production per minutes played is good. The problem is, we’re talking per minute, not per game,” Self said. “How do you commit three fouls in two minutes? That’s hard to do. He has to become better at that.

“If you eliminate that, he’s played very well. He needs to be out there 30 minutes a game, not 14, 18 or 22.”

Arthur understands the importance of him being on the court tonight and every night.

“Coach talks about it all the time. He says, ‘We need you in the game,'” Arthur said. “I’m trying to stay out of foul trouble, trying to guard with my head and my feet.”

He hopes his head is in the game tonight.

It’ll be an emotional night returning to Texas, where he’ll be playing with friends and relatives in the stands.

“It will be fun. I have a lot of family members coming to the game, probably 10 or more,” Arthur said. “I’ve got a couple of high school teammates who want to go to the game. My dad is going. I’ve not seen him in a lot of months, about a year. It’s going to be great going home. It will be a good game. Texas has a great team again this year.”

No pro thoughts – yet

The Longhorns have done just fine without Kevin Durant, who left after his freshman season and was tapped No. 2 overall in the NBA Draft.

Arthur, who like Durant was a McDonald’s All-American, said he never seriously considered turning pro after his freshman season. As to what he’ll do after this year, he’s said he has not thought about the matter at all and is only thinking about “winning a national championship.”

“It’s still up in the air,” mom Sandra said, also indicating the season at hand is what is important now.

“We won state in high school, a couple of championships in summer AAU ball. My biggest goal is a national championship,” noted Arthur, who currently listed as the No. 15 overall pick (of the New Jersey Nets) in 2008 NBA Draft by NBAdraft.net.

“Sherron (Collins) had some dreams about winning the championship. He didn’t tell me who we were playing, but he had dreams that we won it. It’s what I want. It’s what we all want. We want to win games. Whatever sacrifices we all need to make, we’ll do it to win games.”