His intensity may have rubbed off on the Jayhawks, who rebounded from a 31-point loss to Wake Forest by downing DePaul, 75-69, on Tuesday night at Chicago’s United Center.

“Coach was really upset at everything. Like everybody else, he was frustrated,” KU forward Nick Collison said after scoring a career-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting.

“I really like what he did. He let us go to practice and fix some things on our own. He let us beat on each other, to take out some frustration.”

The Jayhawks set hard screens, contested every shot and scrapped for rebounds during long practice sessions after last Thursday’s embarrassment at Wake.

Earl Richardson/Journal-World Photo

“That first day after we lost to Wake Forest … we were fired up. Everybody was banging each other. It was a bad scene,” forward Drew Gooden said with a grin on Tuesday after his 15-point, eight-rebound performance.

“We’ve got to compete every day at practice, not be lackadaisical. That carries over into games.”

KU’s effort showed on the boards Tuesday. The Jayhawks outrebounded DePaul, 37-36, after getting out-boarded by 21 against Wake Forest. Aggressive DePaul players Bobby Simmons, Lance Williams and Steve Hunter did not push the Jayhawks around.

“Several years in a row we had very tough-minded kids who’d compete to the last straw and do the job of being focused. We have somewhat tough kids. We want to make ’em (even) tougher,” Williams said.

“We have competitive drills at practice every day.”

For instance?

“We may be working on our halfcourt man offense. We’ll say, ‘This last possession if you score you win. If you don’t you lose.’ The losing team may run sprints. It makes practice more competitive,” Williams said.

The more competitive the practice the better, Collison said.

He does not agree with fans who contend rugged practices result in injuries.

“Coach doesn’t work us too hard,” Collison said. “Luke stepped on a foot, which happens when you play basketball.”

Luke Axtell (left ankle sprain) and Kenny Gregory (stress fracture, right foot) missed Tuesday’s game and remain questionable for Saturday’s game against Tulsa (8:05 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse).

Mario Kinsey (anterior compartment syndrome) has missed two games, while Jeff Boschee missed a practice because of an ankle sprain.

KU’s point zone defense held DePaul to 9-of-29 second-half shooting. The 6-10 Gooden, who played small forward, was especially effective darting out from the baseline to bother shots.

“We had active hands,” Collison said. “They were trying to get the ball inside. We have three guys in there over 6-10 (Collison, Gooden, Chenowith). Those are long arms. We can cover a lot of ground.”

The Jayhawks’ early-afternoon flight from Chicago to snowy KC International experienced just a half-hour delay Wednesday. The Jayhawks did not practice Wednesday and concentrated on final exams.

Future KU guards Michael Lee and Aaron Miles scored 28 and 16 points respectively in a losing cause last Friday as Portland, Ore.’s Jefferson High fell to Seattle’s Rainer Beach, 87-77.

The loss snapped Jefferson’s 31-game win streak.

Prior to Friday, Jefferson last lost to North Salem, 69-64, in the 1999 Oregon Class 4A state quarterfinals. After the loss, the Democrats won two consolation games, then went 28-0 and took state.