Not too many people outside the state of Nebraska knew the name Joe McCray before the Kansas men’s basketball team escaped with a two-point home victory against Nebraska last night.

But after he scored a game-high 19 points and got involved in a second half skirmish with senior Kansas guard Mike Lee, it’s a safe bet Kansas fans will be mentioning him in the same breath as recently graduated Colorado center David Harrison, whose every action sent Jayhawk fans into a roar of boos.

“I didn’t even think to think about that,” Lee said with a grin after being asked if the crowd treated McCray the same way they did Harrison. “The crowd always has our back so I knew whether I was wrong or right in that situation they were on my side.”

Lee and McCray collided with each other at the 5:31 mark of the second half, after both players dove for a loose ball. Both players rose from the confrontation heated, and after the two were separated they each received technical fouls.

“We got tangled up on the floor. I felt like he kicked me,” Lee said. “Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. I let my emotions get the best of me and said some things I shouldn’t have said.”

After the referees issued the double technical, the fans in Allen Fieldhouse got involved and jeered McCray for the rest of the contest. The student sections mercilessly booed him every time he touched the ball.

“I just blocked that out,” McCray said. “Everywhere you go, fans are going to say what they’re going to say. I just kept playing hard. I am a freshman, but I just play hard and give everything that I have.”

During free throws the crowd went as far as to chant “You suck” at the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., native.

“The ref. can make the right call and people say, ‘You can’t call that. You’re blind,’” Lee said. “That’s how your home crowd should be.”

Despite the negative attention from Jayhawk fans, McCray turned in one of the finest games of his young college basketball career and seemed to play his best basketball when he received the most taunting.

“It’s not so much that he responded to the crowd as much as it was a big game,” Nebraska coach Barry Collier said. “He wants to be in it and I think he played well.”

He played 33 minutes, scored 19 points, pulled down seven rebounds, and if it weren’t for a late three-point attempt rattling in and out, he may have helped Nebraska pull one of the greatest upsets in the program’s history.

“I think we did a good job on him, and he got 19,” said Kansas coach Bill Self. “He’s certainly going to be one of the best scorers in our league for the next four years.”

It’s hard to disagree with Self, as McCray looked more like a seasoned veteran in yesterday’s match-up than a true freshman. McCray has been the catalyst for the Cornhuskers all season long as he is the team’s leading scorer and averages 15.2 points a game.

Kansas fans will get another opportunity to ridicule McCray on Feb. 5 in Lincoln, Neb., but when asked if he would place any special emphasis on that game, like Harrison used to, McCray said he would not.

“I’m just trying to go game by game and win some. If we play with a high intensity, that will be it.”