TULSA, OKLA. ? A former standout high school football player, Michael Lee recorded his first college tackle on Wednesday night at Reynolds Center.
Lee, Kansas University’s 6-foot-3, 215-pound sophomore linebacker — make that shooting guard/small forward — barreled into Tulsa’s mascot, Captain Cane, knocking the mascot to the floor as the Jayhawks headed to their locker room after pregame warmups.
The Tulsa student section booed Lee and the Jayhawks as they exited. To some fans it must have appeared Lee leveled the mascot on purpose.
KU assistant Joe Holladay, a former high school coaching legend in Tulsa, put his palms in the air to the crowd as if to say, “Oops.”
“I assure you it was accidental. I was not trying to knock him over,” Lee said in a happy KU locker room after the Jayhawks’ 89-80 victory over TU before 8,555 fans, the largest crowd in the building’s four-year history.
“I was running off the court and the mascot was backing up. I probably could have helped him up, but we needed to get in the locker room,” Lee added after scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds in 12 minutes.
The only other players used off the bench were Jeff Graves, who had two points and two boards in 11 minutes, and Bryant Nash, who had a two-minute stint.
Lee’s best buddy, Aaron Miles, teased Lee about the incident, calling Lee a linebacker in the locker room.
“We were fired up tonight. He did it by accident,” Miles said. “That mascot was hopping all around. He needs to get out of the way.”
He also had some fun with Tulsa’s loud student section, trading insults with some face-painters in one of the end zones.
Langford tugged at his shirt, gestured and verbally sparred with the fans toward the end and after the game.
“I mean, the words were pretty vulgar. They are in college. I’m in college,” Langford said. “It was fun. I like talking with them. I don’t want to give them the benefit of the doubt or anything.”
“It was definitely a hard game,” Simien said. “I have a busted lip, busted eye. It was a battle in there,” he said, wearing a bandage on the side of his face.
“His back’s still bothering him a little,” KU coach Roy Williams said. “His perimeter defense was really good. You cannot find a screen where he didn’t go over (the screen). His shot was not going in. He will compete regardless.
“I thought the key to this game was our perimeter defense by Aaron, Kirk and Keith.”
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