He wore his No. 25 jersey, shorts and Nikes — dressed to play for the first time in five weeks — during the second half of KU’s 86-79 victory.

“After they went on a 10-0 run to end the half, Mike said, ‘Can I suit up the second half?”’ KU coach Bill Self said of Lee, who has been out since Nov. 28 because of a broken right collarbone.

“I don’t know what his intentions were. Maybe he thought I’d put him in. Maybe he thought he could provide more support if he was in uniform.”

Self wasn’t tempted to put the junior guard in the game.

He has decided Lee will miss one more game — Monday’s 8 p.m. Big 12 Conference opener at Colorado — with target date for Lee’s return the Jan. 14 home game against Kansas State.

“He’s really done well,” Self said of Lee, who has been practicing in non-contact drills this week. X-rays Friday showed his recovery was right on schedule.

“He will not play Monday. He’s not practiced in contact. We’ll hold him out of that until we get back from Colorado.”

KU guard Keith Langford, who scored 24 points, was asked why he thought Lee dressed for the second half.

“His suit was too tight,” Langford joked.

• Bahe plays six minutes: Walk-on guard Nick Bahe logged six minutes the first half after Aaron Miles was whistled for his third foul.

Self first went with Bryant Nash, who picked up two quick fouls, and Omar Wilkes, who missed a three, before turning to Bahe.

6Sports video: KU defeats Villanova in close game Jayhawks hold off ‘Nova Padgett performs for family Wildcats’ ‘weak’ inside costly Lee suits, but his return delayed Hear Bill: KU-Villanova postgame comments See the photos: KU-Villanova Get the stats: KU-Villanova box score

“Bryant Nash was the perfect guy to play the first half,” Self said of Nash, whose athleticism was needed versus the athletic Wildcats. “He had a really bad first minute. I put Omar out there, and the first time we get shook and (Wildcats) make a basket.

“I put Nick out there, and I thought Nick was most solid of the guys coming in off the bench that didn’t play a lot of minutes. I was pleased with Nick. I have confidence in Nick. Nick is a good basketball player. He will play minutes as his career moves forward.”

• Stats, facts: Villanova received guarantee money of $25,000 for playing KU. Next year, the Jayhawks will return the game, playing ‘Nova in Wachovia Center, home of the NBA’s 76ers, in South Philadelphia. … ESPN indicated the Philadelphia and Lawrence/Kansas City markets would receive the KU game in its entireity with other markets not getting the KU game until the late-running Peach Bowl game ended. … Langford’s 14 of 18 free-throw shooting marked career highs. His previous best was eight free throws made against Oregon March 24, 2002. His previous high in attempts was 10 versus Syracuse in last year’s NCAA title game. … David Padgett had a career-best five assists. … Jeff Graves had a season-high eight boards.
• Thornton update: Josh Thornton, a 6-foot-1 high school junior guard from Dover, Del., is not ready to end his recruiting following his unofficial visit to KU for the KU-Binghamton game.

Thornton is considering KU, Arkansas, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Texas and others. He plans to make five official visits.

“I have family that lives in Kansas City, so I’ve heard so much about how prestigious the University of Kansas really is, but I had never seen that type of atmosphere before,” Thornton told Shay Wildeboor of rivals.com. “It was just a great trip.”