“It froze me up,” said Chenowith, Kansas’ senior center from Orange, Calif.

Realizing he was stuck on 999 points and counting in his KU career, Chenowith missed badly on a free throw try with 5:45 to play in KU’s 92-61 victory over North Dakota.

He returned to the line at 2:41, missing the first of two tries, finally converting and then exiting the game to a loud ovation as KU’s 40th member of the 1,000-points club.

“It was good to get that one down. Normally I make my free throws,” noted Chenowith, who made six of eight on the night.

“This is a special moment. Coach (Joe) Holladay told me there were only 40 players to wear this uniform to score 1,000 points. I probably should have gotten it last year to tell you the truth. It’s good to get it over with now.”

KU coach Roy Williams says the 7-footer would have left the game for good if he hadn’t finally converted his second of two late charities.

“The first free throw, he choked it a bit. He did know what it was,” Williams said, indicating he screamed at Kirk Hinrich to feed Chenowith the basketball so he could score his 1,000th point.

“I said if he missed the second one I wasn’t going to let him play the next three games and make him worry about it for three games. You’ve got to be tough enough to step up and make a daggum free throw. I can’t walk up and shoot the sucker for him.

“I’m proud he stepped up and made the last one. There are only 40 guys who have done it at Kansas,” Williams added.

Kenny Gregory had 19 points and 10 rebounds while playing with a nasty head cold. He whacked his head on the court after getting undercut in the first half.

“I was shaken up and tried to get up too fast trying to be a tough guy,” said Gregory, who had to sit on the court a moment after the play. “I hit my head. I bent my back in a weird position. I’m kind of hurting all over.”

Sophomore point guard Hinrich, who had nine points and nine assists, has a severe cold and Chenowith also was congested after the game.

Senior Luke Axtell (ankle sprain) did not dress for the game. Williams said doctors performed a second MRI on Axtell this week with no broken bones revealed. Williams said Axtell will miss Monday’s game against Boise State, then hopes to get him back on the court for practice later next week.

One Big 12 player from each team recently was polled on a variety of topics for Sports Illustrated’s basketball issue.

The Big 12 players said they’d least like to play for KU’s Roy Williams and most like to play for Missouri’s Quin Snyder.

Williams’ reaction?

“Gene Keady (Purdue) is on there, too,” Williams noted. “He is a pretty demanding coach. He’s won more Big 10 titles than anybody the last several years.

“Jimmy Calhoun (UConn) was on there. He’s won more Big East titles the last 10 years than anybody.

“Roy Williams was on there. We’ve won more Big Eight and Big 12 (titles), so nobody likes a guy that always finishes on top.”

He said he was surprised by one player comment that indicated KU doesn’t send many players to the NBA.

“Our players don’t even know how many No. 1 and 2 draft choices we’ve had much less than someone else. I think some coach must have voted at least once,” Williams said.

Former University of North Carolina assistant coaches Pat Sullivan and Dave Hanners attended as guests of Williams.

Hanners and Sullivan both worked for UNC coach Bill Guthridge, who stepped down last summer and was replaced by Notre Dame coach Matt Doherty.

Doherty wanted to retain the two coaches, but couldn’t, out of a sense of loyalty to his Fighting Irish staff.

Sullivan played against KU in the 1993 Final Four semifinals in New Orleans. He didn’t score in 17 minutes as the Jayhawks fell, 78-68.

Jeff Boschee failed to connect on a three for the fifth time in 70 career games played. It marked the first time Boschee has not made a three in a game at Allen Fieldhouse. It also marks the first time he failed even to attempt a three in a game.

The 34 threes fired by North Dakota ties for second most by an opponent in the Williams era and is most since N.C. State shot 34 in 1994.

KU won its home opener for the 28th straight year. The Jayhawks improved to 52-6 all-time versus non-Div. I schools, including a 17-0 mark under Williams. KU is 3-0 for the 10th straight year. The Jayhawks have won 32 straight games in the month of November, last losing against Arizona State in 1990.