“I’m happy I could step up. The team needed me to step up,” the 6-foot-9 Collison said after scoring a career-high 23 points in the Jayhawks’ 75-69 victory over DePaul at the United Center.

KU was playing without Kenny Gregory (stress fracture in right foot) for the second consecutive game and Luke Axtell (sprained left foot) who went down in practice on Monday.

The absence of those players made Collison feel like the team desperately needed him.

“Seeing Luke get hurt was a downer,” Collison said. “We knew we would have to come out and compete hard without Luke and Kenny. Coach (Ben) Miller and (Joe) Holladay both said some things to me to help my confidence and fire me up.”

It was suggested Collison played especially well because he made his first start in five games.

“I was happy I could be in from the start,” Collison said. “Coming off the bench is not a problem for me, but you lose by 31 points (at Wake Forest), you want to be out there at the start.”

Early return: Axtell said he hopes to play in Saturday’s game against Tulsa (8:05 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse). He is listed as day-to-day after stepping on Bryant Nash’s foot and turning his left ankle during Monday’s practice.

“Of course I was very disappointed when it happened,” Axtell said. “I’m tired of sitting out. I want to be out there.”

He missed four games earlier this season with a sprain.

“There are no broken bones,” he said. “Today it still hurt walking without the boot.”

Axtell wore an orthopedic boot for support Tuesday.

Gregory also hopes to play Saturday after resting the foot all week.

Stepping forward: Drew Gooden had 15 points while playing small forward for the first time.

“It’s tough on Drew. He’d never played that spot,” KU coach Roy Williams said. “Drew was running around like he was lost a few times. I love the way he stepped to the line (11 of 12 free throws) and loved the way we stepped up to the line (KU hit 24 of 29 to DePaul’s 11 of 18).”

Weather woes: KU had a long day Tuesday. Because of a blizzard Monday, the Jayhawks had a 6:30 a.m. wake up call and flew to Chicago on Tuesday morning.

“I got in a nap. It wasn’t that bad at all,” Collison said.

Added Gooden, “I don’t even feel like we flew in today.”

Odds ‘n’ ends: Williams was whistled for his first technical foul since Nov. 17, 1998, at Penn. Kansas trailed by 11 in the first half. The comeback was the Jayhawks’ biggest since trailing by 11 against Evansville in the 1999 NCAA Tournament. Collison tied a career high with four steals. Hinrich played a career-high 39 minutes. KU had a season-low four three point attempts, hitting one. KU is 8-1 for the second straight year and 7-0 all-time versus DePaul.

Old friend: Former KU player Marlon London, who is sitting out the season as a DePaul transfer, watched from the Blue Demons’ bench. He visited with some former teammates and coaches on the court both before and after the game.

Here’s a thought: DePaul coach Pat Kennedy says the officials’ emphasis on cleaning up inside play hasn’t been entirely successful.

“The thing that disturbs me the most when you say you are going to make changes, you have to make them,” Kennedy said. “We’ve had inconsistencies. When the NBA said no more hand checking, that was it. There was no more hand checking. If we’re going to call rough play, let’s call rough play.”

Playing well with others: How good is DePaul freshman point guard Imari Sawyer? The 6-foot-2 playmaker set a tournament record with 30 assists in three games at this year’s Great Alaska Shootout. DePaul beat Florida State and Alaska Anchorage and lost to Syracuse at that event.

As a junior at Chicago King High School, Sawyer had a school-record 30 assists versus Bogan High.