Drew Gooden did a little bit of everything Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
On the court, Gooden, Kansas University’s 6-foot-10 forward from Richmond, Calif., scored 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked two shots and had three steals in the Jayhawks’ 105-73 rout of Missouri.
Off the court, after the contest, he first answered a zillion reporters’ questions, then actually became a broadcaster, grabbing a microphone to interview his dad, who was in from California for the game.
“Dad, how did you feel about the game?” Drew Gooden III asked Drew Gooden II, bright lights of TV shining on the pair.
“The game was a great game,” Drew’s dad said. “I thought it was going to be closer than it was, but I’ll take the 25-point blowout.”
“Did you have fun coming all the way from California to enjoy this game?” KU’s power forward asked as a follow-up question.
“Yes I enjoyed coming to KU to see all the beautiful fans and to meet the press,” Gooden’s dad replied.
“OK …that’s it, we’ll end it right there. This is Drew Gooden, Channel 49, we’re out,” Gooden said, handing the mike back to a Topeka TV type.
It’s hard to imagine a player enjoying himself more than Gooden, who leads the Big 12 in scoring (20.9) and rebounding (11.8).
“Can’t you tell on the court? I’m on Cloud Nine,” Gooden said. “I’ve got my eyes on the prize.”
That’d be the Big 12 regular-season title.
KU is 7-0, a game and a half up on Texas (5-1).
“I want the Big 12 championship trophy,” Gooden said.
What about conference player of the year honors? “I feel good about my performance so far. I’ll leave that up to the media. It’s not over yet,” Gooden said.
Missed slam: In one of the wildest plays of the game, MU’s Arthur Johnson missed a dunk try in the second half. The ball hit the rim, the 6-9, 265-pound Johnson landing forcefully on his behind.
“I thought he was gonna dunk the hell out of the ball,” Gooden said. “He cocked it back so far I thought he’d break the rim. It didn’t go in fortunately.”
Stifling Rush: Kareem Rush didn’t have a good game Monday, hitting six of 19 shots, including one of seven threes.
Rush did amaze with one deep jumper, however.
“He hit one with somebody right in his face. Nick Collison jumped at it. I jumped at it. Somebody else jumped at it. I told him, ‘How the hell did you hit that shot?”‘ Gooden said. “He didn’t have a good shooting game. Credit our defense for that.”
Credit Kirk Hinrich’s defense for that.
Hinrich gave up three inches to Rush, yet clamped the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, holding him to 13 points.
“Sometimes you get a guy defend a great player (like Rush) a couple possessions then let down,” KU junior Nick Collison said. “Every single touch, Kirk was on him. He was in his face every play.”
Recruiting stalled: The icy weather made KU coach Roy Williams cancel his plans to go recruiting on Tuesday.
“I went to the airport and it looked like it’d be difficult to get back in the morning. I have to be back for practice,” Williams said on his Hawk Talk radio show. “I was going to drive to a game but those plays were waylaid too.”
