Jeff Graves’ right knee has been bothering him big time since he suffered a hard fall at a Kansas University basketball practice eight days ago.

“I’ve got to deal with it. It’s a little sore. That’s really about it,” Graves, the 6-foot-9, 255-pound senior center said Monday on the eve of tonight’s KU-Michigan State battle (8:05 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse).

“I’m not sure what it is,” added Graves, asked what percentage healthy his bruised knee felt. “I just know it feels better than the first time I injured it.”

Graves — he said he “got banged around, jammed it a little bit,” eight days ago after falling while on defense — limped while playing six minutes in Friday’s 90-76 season-opening victory over Tennessee Chattanooga.

“He’s gone full speed the last two days and made it through all practice,” first-year KU coach Bill Self said. “He’s much better and played better, too.”

Graves, who started 25 games last season in place of then-injured Wayne Simien, will come off the bench for the second straight game tonight. Simien and freshmen David Padgett have won starting spots in Self’s lineup, which includes two big men and three perimeter players.

“I don’t know if it’ll be tough (for Graves). It’ll probably be disappointing,” Self said of Graves taking on a new role. “You want to do what is best for the team. I feel when Jeff gets to the point he’s playing like he was last year — I don’t think he’s far off, he’s just been beat up a little bit — maybe we’ll have to reconsider a few things. Right now he needs to make the most of coming off the bench. I’ve said before we’ve got three big guy starters. We’ll only start two of the three.”

Self said Graves’ history of early foul trouble was a factor in making him sixth man.

KU players Jeff Graves, left, and J.R. Giddens work out during practice. The Jayhawks prepared for Michigan State Monday at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I’d as soon not have our starting big guy get two fouls the first four, five minutes,” Self said. “Not that that would happen with Jeff. Based on past history there’s a chance that would happen.”

Graves is taking his new role in stride.

“I’m just saying if that’s what I’ve got to do to help the team, it’s what I have to do,” Graves said. “It’s hard at first, but I’m just trying to help the team out.”

Self thinks that will happen.

“He is a senior and this is his last chance. I know he has aspirations to play after college,” Self said. “I can’t believe anybody would not be motivated to play under those conditions.”

Self said he would likely start the same five as KU’s opener. That is: Aaron Miles, Keith Langford, Michael Lee, Simien and Padgett.

“Mike, Jeff (Hawkins), J.R. (Giddens), Jeremy (Case) and Bryant (Nash) are all kind of bunched in the third perimeter position. Five guys are fighting for time,” Self said.

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Cotton out: Michigan State freshman point guard Brandon Cotton is likely to miss at least a month with a possible stress fracture in his right foot.

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Self on tonight’s crowd: “I hope it’s a huge one (advantage). I can’t imagine it not being an advantage for any team, playing on the homecourt, especially an environment I anticipate being pretty good.”

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Camping: Self and his assistants are daily amazed at the 100 or so students camping in the fieldhouse for games.

“I think it’s awesome, it’s great,” he said of the campers. “It’s amazing to me that after our game against UT Chattanooga they were camping out the next morning and then got a break to go to the football game. It continues to amaze me every time I walk through there.”

Self shocked the campers by having pizza delivered to them Monday night.

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Visitors: Ex-Jayhawk Nick Collison will have his jersey retired in halftime ceremonies. … Joe Krabbenhoft, a 6-8 high school junior forward from Sioux Falls, S.D., will be here on an unofficial recruiting visit. He’s considering KU, Minnesota, Notre Dame and others. … Ex-Jayhawk center Eric Chenowith will sit in the stands with buddy Tony Gonzalez of the Kansas City Chiefs. Chenowith, a native of Orange, Calif., cut by the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA preseason, made the trip to attend Sunday’s Chiefs-Raiders game and today’s KU-MSU contest. Chenowith declined interview requests from the J-W.

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MSU coach Tom Izzo on KU: “They have four guys back, four juniors that have started and played in a lot of games — a lot of big games. Maybe their second-best inside player and the third-best player in the NCAA Tournament last year was Graves, who comes off the bench now. They have size, they have guard play, they have a point guard who has started for two and a half years at the point and they have maybe the best athlete in college basketball in Langford as far as a pure athlete. … I think it’s going to be an incredible experience for us, and one that if we don’t play a little bit tougher inside, we’re going to get our lunch.”

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Self on MSU: “Chris Hill is a great shooter and can play both guard slots. He’s probably one of the best three-point shooters we’ll see all year. Alan Anderson could play the one, two, three or four and will play both the one and the four a lot, it shows how versatile he is. Kelvin Torbert was a high school player of the year three years ago. Maurice Ager is a great basketball player. Bring in Shannon Brown, who was a McDonald’s All-American who we are too familiar with being from Chicago. He’s a big timer.

“Transition defense will be a huge key to this game. They are disciplined in how they execute their sets. They run a lot of sets. They have been a top five rebounding team year and in out so I’m sure this year will be no exception.”