Sophomore forward Drew Gooden, who practiced on Friday with his sprained right wrist lightly taped, walked into the cafeteria 10 minutes late at 11:10 a.m. with a blue cast on his aching wrist.

Gooden, coach Roy Williams told the Jayhawks, would wear the cast nine days and miss three games, starting with Saturday afternoon’s clash against Oklahoma State.

“At that moment I challenged everybody to elevate their play a little bit,” Williams said after the No. 5-ranked Jayhawks (19-3, 8-2) did just that in a 77-61 victory over the Cowboys (14-6, 5-4) at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I told them, ‘There’s nothing we can do about it. If we lose, they won’t say in the paper, ”They lost, but the poor ol’ guys … they didn’t have Drew Gooden.” I said, ‘It’s not gonna be that way. It’s going to go down as a win or a loss. We’ve got to play.”’

Tyler Wirken/Journal-World Photo

The Jayhawks responded much better than the last time a KU player couldn’t answer the bell.

Remember, Williams made the decision to hold Kenny Gregory (foot fracture) out of the Wake Forest game right after warmups.

The Jayhawks were blown out by the Demon Deacons, 84-53, on Dec. 7 in Winston-Salem, N.C.

“We talked about what happened at Wake Forest and how it sort of deflated us,” Williams said. “We made the decision on Drew a little earlier. I think that was more helpful.”

Indeed, the sight of Gooden in his cast X-rays showed no fracture; he’ll be re-evaluated when the cast comes off on Feb. 19 caught the attention of the Jayhawks, who prepared themselves mentally.

Tyler Wirken/Journal-World Photo

“The initial reaction was slump of the shoulder and feeling sorry for Drew,” said senior center Eric Chenowith, who scored 17 points with 12 rebounds in 37 minutes. “Then coach said we’ve got to step up. He went all the way down the line and said everybody has to step up. So we did.”

Chenowith’s roommate, junior forward Jeff Carey, responded with five rebounds, two points and two assists in 16 minutes.

“It shocked me when Drew walked in with a cast on,” Carey said. “I thought the worst was over for him and his wrist (which he sprained eight days ago against Texas). At that moment, I had to get in my head I was going to play a lot. I like to pride myself on being ready when coach calls on me.”

Carey was ready, as was junior guard Brett Ballard, who hit two of three three-pointers and scored six points with two assists in 11 minutes.

Williams called on the seldom-used Ballard seven minutes into the game, after Jeff Boschee picked up two quick fouls.

Ballard missed his first three, then drained one with 8:45 left in the half, erasing a 24-22 deficit.

“Coach Holladay (assistant, Joe) said, ‘Keep shooting. You’ll get another look,”’ Ballard said. “I felt good on the first one. I didn’t hesitate. I’ve been shooting well in practice and didn’t want to hesitate in the game.”

Williams said he called on Ballard and Carey because, “they both had great practices yesterday. In fact, I was really ticked at Eric yesterday and told him to put on a Red jersey (second team) and Jeff to put on a Blue jersey (first team). Jeff was eating us up.

“Brett has the ability to hit that shot. He wants to be a coach. When he goes out there, he gives you everything he has,” Williams added.

He went with Ballard over Mario Kinsey, who did not play.

“In 28 years of coaching I’ve always gone by one rule ‘play who I want at that specific time.’ Brett had good practices. The kids trust him and trust his toughness. It’s the way I wanted to go today.”

Ballard said the Jayhawks were intent on showing they could band together without a key player like Gooden.

“It was similar to when coach told us Kenny was not playing at Wake Forest,” Ballard said. “But this time we were more ready for it. We did not sulk or worry too much. We just went and played.”

Point guard Kirk Hinrich stepped up his offense and scored 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He hit three threes the first half as KU led the Cowboys, 38-35, at halftime.

“I don’t think I did anything differently today. I feel more comfortable attacking the basket and I need to do it more,” Hinrich said. “I thought it was big the way guys like Brett Ballard and Jeff Carey stepped up. I thought somebody would step up with Drew out and those guys really did.”

Hinrich and Chenowith scored two points apiece and Jeff Boschee three as KU used a 7-0 run to open a 45-35 lead 2:31 into the second half. A back-breaking 6-0 surge upped a 57-47 lead to 63-47 at 8:11. Chenowith had four points in that run.

The Jayhawks outscored Okie State, 39-26, the second half as the Cowboys, who played Missouri in Stillwater on Monday and Nebraska in Lincoln on Wednesday, missed nine of 10 second-half threes.

“Their legs were a little gone at the end,” Williams said of the visitors.

Now it’s on to Baylor for Monday’s 8:05 p.m. battle. It’ll be the Jayhawks’ second game without Gooden, who will also miss next Saturday’s game at Iowa State.

His cast will be removed on Monday, Feb. 19. At that time, he’ll be re-examined and either be cleared to play or face more cast-time.

“It’s a tremendous blow to our basketball team and to Drew personally,” Williams said. “These things happen in athletics, however, and everyone will have to step up to make up for this loss.”

www.kusports.com