With 6-foot-10 forward Drew Gooden sitting on the bench in a suit resting an injured wrist, Jeff Carey was called upon Wednesday to step in and play more than usual.
Carey, a 6-11 fourth-year junior, played a career-high 23 minutes in Kansas University’s 91-79 victory over Colorado on Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse, with season-highs of seven points and nine rebounds.
“I’m always expecting to go in and play,” Carey said. “I don’t know how many minutes that’s going to be, but now I know I’m going to go out and play a significant amount of minutes.”
Carey has seen his time on the court rise from seven minutes a game before Gooden’s injury to 16 minutes in each of the past three contests.
“I think the more you play, the more you adjust to the game and get comfortable,” Carey said. “Coach, earlier in the year, didn’t play me as much, and if he’s going to be play me a minute I’ve got to be able to go out and do the same as if I’m playing (the whole game).”
Even with the extra playing time, Carey wasn’t looking to make up for all of Gooden’s 15.6 points-per-game average.
“I only really took one shot,” he said. “The other two were kind of junk I picked up. I only really look to score when I think I’ve got a good open shot. I don’t try to do anything crazy. I’ve got other guys on the team who can do that stuff and do it a lot better than me.”
Carey did trigger one crazy play.
With time running out in the first half, he grabbed a loose ball in the left corner, turned around and threw a prayer toward the basket that Kenny Gregory grabbed high in the air and dunked at the halftime buzzer.
| Colorado | 32 | 47 | 79 |
| Kansas | 41 | 50 | 91 |
Attendance: 16,100
“If it went in, it was a shot,” Carey said, “but it was a pass because that’s what happened. I knew there wasn’t much time left, so I just wanted to get it to the rim so maybe someone could go get it if it hit the rim, but it worked out.”
KU senior center Eric Chenowith said he enjoyed getting to play with Carey more than he usually does. The two are good friends and have been roommates for their four years at KU.
“It’s a great feeling,” Chenowith said. “He’s the greatest roommate in the world and he’s even a better teammate. He’s fun to play with because he’s really, really unselfish. He likes to move the ball around and wants to win, so it’s fun to play with him.”
Carey echoed that sentiment.
“I’ve always enjoyed playing with Eric,” he said. “I think we (complement) each other very well, because when I catch the ball I’m not always looking to score first, whereas the team needs him to do that, so I can catch the ball and look to give it to him. We kind of have different aspects to our game.”
Chenowith’s 17 points and nine rebounds against the Buffaloes marked his best output since a 17-point, 12-rebound performance against Oklahoma State on Feb. 10.
He said he wasn’t trying to pick up Gooden’s missing points, either.
“I wasn’t looking to score more,” Chenowith said. “If I wanted to do anything extra, it was just to play harder. I wanted to rebound more and maybe block some more shots, but I never try to force or push on offense, because that’s when things go the opposite direction for you.
“With someone hurt, everyone needs to step up and I think when I step up and play well, we win. I need to make plays to help this team win.”
Three-point goals: 6-15 (Harrison 3-6, Mohr 2-5, Wilson 1-1, Winston 0-1, Brimmer 0-2). Assists: 12 (Mohr 4, Winston 3, Brimmer 2, Mosley, Pelle, Harbert). Turnovers: 15 (Harrison 3, Pelle 3, Harbert 2, Fox 2, Mosley, Winston, Mohr, Brimmer, Wilson). Blocked shots: 1 (Fox). Steals: 11 (Pelle 2, Brimmer 2, Wilson 2, Mosley, Harrison, Morandais, Harbert, Fox). |
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Three-point goals: 3-15 (Hinrich 2-4, Boschee 1-6, Collison 0-1, Gregory 0-1, Carey 0-1, Ballard 0-2). Assists: 22 (Hinrich 8, Collison 7, Boschee 4, Gregory 2, Carey). Turnovers: 14 (Hinrich 3, Boschee 3, Collison 2, Ballard 2, Gregory, Chenowith, Nash, Carey). Blocked shots: 7 (Chenowith 3, Collison 2, Carey 2). Steals: 8 (Hinrich 3, Gregory, Chenowith, Boschee, Ballard, Carey). |
