Mike Lee yells after making a layup and being fouled in the March 18 game against Bucknell. Lee converted the three-point play on his way to a career game with 18 points. It wasn’t enough, though, as the Jayhawks lost in the first round to Bucknell 64-63.

Senior guard Mike Lee was preparing for practice in Allen Fieldhouse, three days before the Kansas men’s basketball team lost to Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, when a reporter asked if he considered himself a team leader.

Transfer guard Rodrick Stewart overheard the conversation and gave his two cents as he walked by.

“Yeah,” Stewart said. “He’s the leader.”

Lee grinned as Stewart passed, laughed, and said, “I don’t know about that. I think Aaron Miles is our leader.”

Whether Lee agreed with the assessment or not, he certainly played like a senior leader in the Jayhawks’ season-ending loss to the Bison. His performance was one of the few positives Kansas could take away from that game.

Lee replaced senior guard Keith Langford in the starting lineup, and played the best game of his college career. He scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Lee proved that he was worthy of starting in the NCAA Tournament, and if it weren’t for Kansas losing the game, Jayhawk fans might have remembered his performance for years to come.

“Mike Lee was terrific,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “If he doesn’t play great, that game wouldn’t have been as close as it was.”

Lee scored the first five points of the game against Bucknell and converted a pivotal steal and layup combination, pulling the Jayhawks within three points of the Bison in the first half.

“Early in the game I thought they were quicker to the balls than we were, with the exception of Mike Lee,” Self said.

He continued his clutch play in the second half and hit two free throws, after being intentionally fouled, and cut the Bucknell lead to 62-61 late in the game.

Self said talking to Lee immediately after the loss would have been difficult, because it wasn’t the appropriate time to pat him on the back for his efforts.

“I don’t know what else you can say other than that everyone associated with the program appreciates you and is proud of your effort,” Self said.

As much as Lee’s performance surprised outsiders, Jayhawk fans came to expect this type of play from the unheralded senior that many players claimed to be their team leader.

In the second round of the Big 12 Tournament on March 11, he pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds in a victory against Kansas State. He followed that game by scoring 14 points against Oklahoma State in the tournament’s third round.

Lee said he realized that he became a solid contributor for the Jayhawks as the year progressed, and admitted the end of his career was bittersweet.

“The only thing that’s disappointing is the way we went out,” he said. “But I guess that happens to every team.”