TULSA, OKLA. ? A former standout high school football player, Michael Lee recorded his first college tackle on Wednesday night at Reynolds Center.

Lee, Kansas UniversityâÂÂs 6-foot-3, 215-pound sophomore linebacker — make that shooting guard/small forward — barreled into TulsaâÂÂs 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, âÂÂOops.âÂÂ

âÂÂI assure you it was accidental. I was not trying to knock him over,â Lee said in a happy KU locker room after the Jayhawksâ 89-80 victory over TU before 8,555 fans, the largest crowd in the buildingâÂÂs four-year history.

âÂÂI 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,â 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.

LeeâÂÂs best buddy, Aaron Miles, teased Lee about the incident, calling Lee a linebacker in the locker room.

âÂÂWe were fired up tonight. He did it by accident,â Miles said. âÂÂThat mascot was hopping all around. He needs to get out of the way.âÂÂ

â¢

Langford spars with crowd: KU sophomore forward Keith Langford had a big game with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes.

He also had some fun with TulsaâÂÂs 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.

âÂÂI mean, the words were pretty vulgar. They are in college. IâÂÂm in college,â Langford said. âÂÂIt was fun. I like talking with them. I donâÂÂt want to give them the benefit of the doubt or anything.âÂÂ

â¢

Rugged game: Forward Wayne Simien, who fouled out late, had 19 points off 7-of-12 shooting with eight boards in 30 minutes.

âÂÂIt was definitely a hard game,â Simien said. âÂÂI have a busted lip, busted eye. It was a battle in there,â he said, wearing a bandage on the side of his face.

â¢

Good defense: Kirk Hinrich scored just four points off 2-of-11 shooting. He had four assists and three turnovers in 38 minutes.

âÂÂHis backâÂÂs still bothering him a little,â KU coach Roy Williams said. âÂÂHis perimeter defense was really good. You cannot find a screen where he didnâÂÂt go over (the screen). His shot was not going in. He will compete regardless.

âÂÂI thought the key to this game was our perimeter defense by Aaron, Kirk and Keith.âÂÂ

â¢

This âÂÂ’nâ that: KU will meet Div. II Emporia State at 7 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. âÂÂ: KU is 4-3 to open the season for the first time since the 1979-80 season. The Jayhawks snapped their three-game losing streak against Div. I teams. âÂÂ: KU is 6-0 versus Tulsa all-time. âÂÂ: The outcome busted a three-game losing streak to ranked foes. âÂÂ: Nick Collison passed Ron Kellogg and Drew Gooden for 12th place on KUâÂÂs all-time scoring list. âÂÂ: Collison passed Dave Robisch for eighth on the all-time rebounding chart. âÂÂ: Collison had his second double-double of the year and 23rd of his career. âÂÂ: Collison set a career high by hitting two threes. âÂÂ: Collison played a career-high 37 minutes. âÂÂ: Aaron Miles set a career high with five steals and tied a season high with eight assists. âÂÂ: Keith Langford took a career-high 18 shots and played a career-high 37 minutes. âÂÂ: Simien had a career-best four steals. âÂÂ: Tulsa hit 52.5 percent of its shots in becoming the first team to shoot over 50 percent versus KU in 29 games.