Chicago ? Before the season began, some fans looked at Illinois-Chicago’s 20-man roster and asked coach Jimmy Collins, “What do you need all those guys for, Jimmy? You can only play five at a time.”

Collins replied that this was the deepest team in his nine seasons at UIC and that depth could prove decisive at an important time.

This week is the time for UIC’s bench guys to show what Collins meant.

Three first-year non-starters could help offset Kansas University’s superior size Friday night when the 13th-seeded Flames (24-7) try to oust the fourth-seeded Jayhawks (21-8) in their first-round NCAA Tournament game in Kansas City, Mo.

The three key UIC subs are 6-foot-7-inch, 255-pound sophomore Elliott Poole from Chicago Farragut High, 6-10 Josip Petrusic from Croatia and 6-9 Jovan Stefanov from Yugoslavia.

It’s a veritable home game for the Jayhawks, who will be playing 40 miles from their campus. Kemper Arena will be packed with Kansas fans.

But the Flames are quick to point out that they won the Horizon League tournament with victories before partisan crowds at Butler in Indianapolis and at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The disparity in size between the two starting lineups figures to be more difficult to overcome.

Coach Bill Self, who moved from Illinois to Kansas before this season, will start 6-11 David Padgett at center against UIC’s 6-9 Joe Scott and 6-9 Wayne Simien against 6-4 Armond Williams at power forward. The burly Simien leads his team in scoring (17.8 points per game) and rebounding (9.1).

In the backcourt, Kansas probably will match 6-4 Keith Langford, a 15.8-point scorer, against 6-2 Cedrick Banks and 6-1 point guard Aaron Miles against UIC’s 5-10 Martell Bailey. Self also can spot 6-9 Jeff Graves into his lineup.

What can Collins do?

In Scott, Poole and Petrusic, Collins has three bodies and 15 fouls he can alternate in the post. That’s a vast improvement over last year when Scott, playing tentatively while coming off a knee operation, was backed up by Kyle Kickert, a hard-working, crowd-pleasing 260-pound hatchet man.

Poole has improved rapidly. He hit the winning basket at Milwaukee in the victory that earned UIC the Horizon League’s automatic NCAA bid.

Collins described Poole as a blend of brawn and brains.

“I affectionately call him ‘my beast,'” Collins said. “He’s a man-child, just a monster in the paint. Elliott also has one of the highest basketball IQs of any rookie I’ve had. His knowledge of positioning for rebounds, boxing out and post defense is very high.”

Collins called Petrusic, “240 pounds of skills. He’s a banger reminiscent of Kyle Kickert, and he has offensive skills. I rate him as one of our better post scorers.”

The presence of Poole and Petrusic on the bench has enabled Scott to play better and to avoid some of the foul trouble that bothered him last year.

“Joe isn’t so worried about fouling, so he has fouled less,” Collins said

Although the addition of Poole and Petrusic has helped beef up the center and power forward positions, the arrival of Stefanov has strengthened four positions, including Banks’ shooting guard spot.

“Stefanov is one man who can definitely play four positions,” Collins said. “He’ll cause some matchup problems. He can play the same position Banks plays. Kansas’ big guards may try to post up Banks, but Stefanov may post up their big guards.”

Marcetteaus McGee also has been a valuable sub late in the season.

Two players have shared UIC’s small forward position. Aaron Carr, a 6-4 senior, started 18 games and averaged 10.1 points per game. Justin Bowen, a 6-7 sophomore, started 14 times and averaged 4.1 points.

Even by utilizing his bench, Collins cannot match Kansas’ size. But he can reduce the extent of the Jayhawks’ edge in height.

“They’re taller than we are on the perimeter,” Banks said. “We have to make adjustments and contain them.”