Opposition beware: junior center Jeff Withey is falling on the scorer’s table for possessions now.

Oklahoma State freshman guard Cezar Guerrero tried to up-fake Withey, who held his ground. A half-second later, when Guerrero took a shot, Withey soared with an extended right arm and blocked it. He tipped the ball to the sideline, beat Guerrero to the ball and threw it to his teammate, junior guard Travis Releford, as he fell on the scorer’s table.

Withey ran from the scorer’s table to the other end of the floor and demanded the ball. Once he got it, he drew two defenders and tossed a no-look, over-the-head pass to junior forward Kevin Young for the wide-open dunk.

It was this hustle and skill from Withey, who finished with 18 points, a career-high 20 rebounds and seven blocks, that propelled No. 7 Kansas (20-5, 10-2) to an 81-66 victory over Oklahoma State Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.

“Teams focus on Thomas a lot,” senior guard Tyshawn Taylor said of junior forward Thomas Robinson. “When Jeff is playing well, it gives us that extra threat.”

With Withey flying all over the court for blocks, deflections, rebounds and points, Robinson reached 24 points and 14 rebounds, his 18th double-double, rather easily.

“I feel like I’m not even working to score anymore now with the way Jeff is playing,” Robinson said.

Led by Withey’s energy and production, the Jayhawks broke the game open early and led 51-24 going into halftime. However in the second half, perhaps because they felt comfortable with the lead, the Jayhawks played sloppily, committing 11 turnovers and succumbing to the Cowboys’ full-court pressure.

“It was unbelievable to watch from my standpoint,” coach Bill Self said. “Just making grade-school plays.”

Despite his team’s second-half carelessness, Withey never slowed down. Even when he didn’t block a shot, he challenged Oklahoma State shooters with a shot-altering hand, ready to swat. The fieldhouse crowd adored the energy, going wild for every one of his triumphs.

Withey was just one week removed from a scoreless night at Missouri.

“Coach was really angry about that,” Withey said. “He feels like I just let them punk me.”

On Wednesday at Baylor, Withey scored a career-high 25 points. It signified potential, not yet consistency.

Now he’s got two consecutive colossal performances, both times taking advantage of the attention that Robinson draws.

“He fully understands he’s playing with the best player in America,” Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. “That’s good for Kansas, but bad for us.”

— Edited by Pat Strathman