Homer Drew likes the name and he loves Drew Gooden’s game.
“Drew is a great name to take to the pros,” Valparaiso coach Drew said, smiling after Gooden’s tour-de-force performance in Kansas’ 81-73 win over the Crusaders on Wednesday night in Allen Fieldhouse.
Gooden’s 30-point, 18-rebound outing had the Valpo coach and his players searching for adjectives.
“He had offensive rebound after offensive rebound,” Drew said. “He’s just so mobile and quick. He broke our backs.”
Guard Antonio Falu also marveled at Gooden’s physical skills.
“I think right now in the country he should be the No. 1 pick,” said Falu, a 6-foot-5 junior from Puerto Rico who scored 18 points. “He went outside and shot threes and he went inside. Every time he got his elbow over the rim, so what can you do? He’s at another level. He’s the best player we’ve played against.”
Lubos Barton, a 6-8 forward who paced Valpo with 19 points, was impressed by Gooden “He proved pretty much what he can do” but he didn’t overlook Nick Collison’s 14 points and 15 rebounds, either.
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Three-point goals: 8-32 (Barton 4-11, Stovall 3-7, Ortiz 1-5, Gomes 0-1, Nelke 0-3, Falu 0-5). Assists: 14 (Nelke 4, Barton 3, Stovall 2, Falu 2, Grafs, Ortiz, Berdiel). Turnovers: 15 (Falu 4, Barton 2, Grafs 2, Stovall 2, Gomes 2, Ortiz 2, Nelke). Blocked shots: 5 (Grafs 3, Barton, Nikkila). Steals: 12 (Barton 4, Grafs 2, Falu 2, Nelke, Stovall, Ortiz, Berdiel). |
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Three-point goals: 7-16 (Boschee 3-8, Hinrich 2-5, Miles 1-1, Lee 1-1, Langford 0-1). Assists: 25 (Miles 7, Hinrich 5, Boschee 5, Gooden 3, Ballard 3, Collison 2). Turnovers: 26 (Miles 7, Collison 4, Gooden 3, Hinrich 3, Ballard 3, Boschee 2, Nash 2, Simien 2). Blocked shots: 11 (Collison 6, Hinrich 3, Simien 2). Steals: 11 (Miles 3, Gooden 2, Hinrich 2, Collison, Ballard, Langford, Simien). |
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| Valparaiso | 33 | 40 | 73 |
| Kansas | 40 | 41 | 81 |
Officials: Rick Hartzell, Steven Pyatt, Rob Wolff.Attendance: 16,300.
“Collison and Gooden they push you around,” said Barton, a senior from the Czech Republic.
As good as Gooden and Collison were, Valparaiso had nevertheless forged a 68-68 deadlock with five minutes remaining. A basket and two free throws by Collison gave KU a 72-68 lead, but the clincher was supplied by Gooden whose stick-back with 3:28 remaining boosted KU’s lead to six.
“That was the turning point,” Drew said.
Poor shooting plagued the Crusaders in the last five minutes. They missed five of their last seven shots and guard Stalin Ortiz bricked a pair of free throws with 2:42 remaining.
Valpo connected on just eight of 32 three-point attempts. Barton missed seven of 11 threes and Falu clanked all five of his shots from beyond the arc.
“If I hit two or three of those three-pointers,” Falu said, “I think the outcome would have been different. But their guards did a good job rotating. I’m pretty quick, but they rotated good.”
Falu also missed a late three in Valpo’s four-point loss at Arizona last Sunday.
“I had a chance at Arizona, too,” he said. “I got looks. I just couldn’t knock it down.”
Valpo came in shooting 35 percent from three-point range, but shot 10 percent worse than that against the Jayhawks, prompting Drew to comment: “I think you have to credit KU.”
Drew would, of course, loved to have been able to take the lead in the late going. Time and time again, the Crusaders would fall behind only to battle back, but they could never snatch the lead.
“If we could have gotten the lead with three minutes to go, we would have spread the court and they have to chase us,” Drew said. “But (KU) just rose to the occasion. They made big plays. We made the effort. They just made better plays.”
Valpo (10-5) will face a different crowd and venue when the Crusaders open Mid-Continent Conference play at Western Illinois on Saturday.
“I think this is the hardest environment we’ve ever played in,” Drew said of Allen Fieldhouse. “The fans are right on top of you and it’s hard to have a conversation. But I loved the fans and the enthusiasm here.”
