UC Irvine’s 7-6 Mamadou Ndiaye, right, of Senegal, is defended by UC Riverside’s 6-9 Cheick Thiero during the Anteaters’ 63-54 win in the Big West Conference tournament, Thursday, March 12, in Anaheim, California. Ndiaye and UC Irvine visit Kansas University in Allen Fieldhouse tonight.

The tall trees of UC Irvine will be on display in Allen Fieldhouse tonight.

“They are ridiculously huge. Allen Fieldhouse may not have ever seen as big a team as it will tomorrow playing Cal-Irvine,” Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self said after practice on Monday afternoon.

The (10-4) Anteaters of the Big West Conference, who meet the (10-1) Jayhawks in an 8 p.m., tip, start 7-foot-6, 300-pound junior Mamadou Ndiaye as well as 6-10, 215-pound senior Mike Best. Jonathan Galloway, a 6-10, 235-pound freshman and Ioannis Dimakopoulos, a 7-2, 262-pound junior, garner significant minutes off the bench.

Ndiaye — he averages a team-leading 12.4 points off 67.7 percent shooting (65 baskets in 96 attempts) and a squad-best 7.3 rebounds — is the visitor’s marquee attraction, swatting 40 shots defensively.

“It’s going to be fun tomorrow. I just want to stand next to him, really see how tall he is,” said KU sophomore guard Devonté Graham, who stands 6-2. “He’s huge. When they play zone, he takes up the whole lane basically. It’s going to definitely be fun to trying to see how we finish around the basket,” Graham added.

The Jayhawks have watched tape of Senegal native Ndiaye, but can only imagine what it’s like to go against a 7-6 giant.

“I guess if you put somebody on somebody’s shoulders, maybe you could,” Self said of simulating competing against the big guy. “The things we try to do are easy in practice, but you are passing over 6-6 or 6-5 as opposed to 7-6. His wingspan has got to be 8-foot.”

Graham said KU’s big men have been especially aggressive in practice.

“Hunter (Mickelson, 6-10), Cheick (Diallo, 6-9) and them … they are already big enough blocking shots. So coach is like, ‘Imagine what it’s going to be like tomorrow when he (Ndiaye) is just standing in the paint trying to block everything,”’ Graham said.

Mickelson has been able to maintain a sense of humor about the matchup.

“It’s literally, a big test,” Mickelson said with a smile. “We are going to do what we normally do, move the ball around, get open looks. Hopefully we’ll be able to bring him out a little bit from the paint so we can get inside a little bit better. We’ll see how that goes and I think we’ll be OK.”

Best, by the way, is third on the team in scoring (8.9 ppg) and third in rebounding (4.2 rpg), while Galloway and Dimakopoulos average 2.4 and 5.1 respectively.

“We’ll do things how we know we can and play well,” Mickelson said. “Everything past 7-6, you know it kind of goes down from there. As long as we play how we know we can play I think we’ll be OK.”

KU senior Perry Ellis, who stands 6-8, said: “That’s a big team. You’ve got to play fast. Playing fast is going to be key and don’t second-guess yourself,” he added of going up strong with the ball.

Irvine facts, figures: This is the first-ever meeting between the two teams. … KU is 6-2 versus current membership of the Big West Conference: 3-1 vs. Long Beach State, 2-1 vs. Hawaii and 1-0 vs. UC Santa Barbara. … UC Irvine is located in Irvine, California with an enrollment of 30,000. … The Anteaters are 10-4 after winning the Sun Bowl Invitational in El Paso, Texas. The Anteaters defeated Sam Houston State, 63-53, on Dec. 21 and Norfolk State, 80-62, the following day to win the title. … UC Irvine coach Russell Turner is 100-84 in his sixth season. … Irvine averages 70.0 ppg and has a +5.4 scoring margin. The Anteaters rank 28th nationally in field goal percentage defense at 38.2 percent. UCI outrebounds its opponents 37.0-35.5 and averages 15.9 assists, 5.8 steals and 5.4 blocked shots. … Of UC Irvine’s eight 20-win seasons in school history, three have come under Turner in each of the last three years. … Last season, the Anteaters went 21-13 and won the Big West Tournament before losing to Louisville, 57-55, in the NCAA Tournament second round. … Junior guard Luke Nelson averages 12.2 ppg and leads the Anteaters with 28 threes and 17 steals. His 60 assists are tied for the team lead with senior guard Alex Young. Young averages 8.6 ppg.

Next: KU, which has won 11 straight Big 12 regular-season titles, will open conference play against Baylor at 3 p.m., Saturday, in Allen. KU will then meet Oklahoma at 8 p.m., Monday in Allen.

Kansas University vs. UC Irvine

Probable Starters

UC IRVINE (10-4)

F — Mike Best (6-10, Sr.)

C — Mamadou Ndiaye (7-6, Jr.)

G — Alex Young (6-2, Sr.)

G — Luke Nelson (6-3, Jr.)

G — Dominique Dunning (6-4, Sr.)

KANSAS (10-1)

F — Perry Ellis (6-8, Sr.)

F — Hunter Mickelson (6-10, Sr.)

G — Frank Mason III (5-11, Jr.)

G — Wayne Selden Jr. (6-5, Jr.)

G — Devonté Graham (6-2, Soph.)

Tipoff: 8 p.m. today, Allen Fieldhouse.

TV: ESPNU (WOW! channels 35, 235).

Rosters

UC IRVINE

0 — Jaron Martin, 5-10, 167, Jr., G, Sunland, California.

1 — Alex Young, 6-2, 193, Sr., G, Phoenix, Oregon.

2 — Max Hazzard, 5-10, 165, Fr., G, Los Angeles.

3 — Haitham Chehabi, 6-1, 187, Fr., G, Laguna Beach, California.

5 — Jonathan Galloway, 6-10, 235, Fr., F, Brentwood, California.

10 — Luke Nelson, 6-3, 195, Jr., G, Worthing, England.

11 — Haroldas Saprykinas, 6-1, 180, Soph., G, Klaipeda, Lithuania.

12 — Ioannis Dimakopoulos, 7-2, 262, Jr., F/C, Patra, Greece.

13 — Brandon Smith, 6-5, 185, Fr., F, Santa Ana, California.

20 — Shawn Ray, 6-8, 235, Sr., F, Torrance, California.

23 — Darrian Traylor, 6-4, 210, Fr., G, Las Vegas.

24 — Dominique Dunning, 6-4, 214, Sr., G, Corona, California.

25 — Spencer Rivers, 6-2, 200, Fr., G, Winter Park, Florida.

32 — Aaron Wright, 6-3, 212, Sr., G, Cerritos, California.

33 — Mike Best, 6-10, 215, Sr., F, San Rafael, California.

34 — Mamadou Ndiaye, 7-6, 300, Jr., C, Dakar, Senegal.

Head coach: Russell Turner. Associate head coach: Ali Ton. Assistants: Ryan Badrtalei, Nick Booker.

KANSAS

0 — Frank Mason III, 5-11, 185, Jr., G, Petersburg, Virginia.

1 — Wayne Selden, Jr., 6-5, 230, Jr., G, Roxbury, Massachusetts.

2 — Lagerald Vick, 6-5, 175, Fr., G, Memphis.

4 — Devonté Graham, 6-2, 175, Soph., G, Raleigh, North Carolina.

5 — Evan Manning, 6-3, 170, Sr., G, Lawrence.

10 — Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, 6-8, 195, Soph., G, Cherkasy, Ukraine.

11 — Tyler Self, 6-2, 165, Jr., G, Lawrence.

13 — Cheick Diallo, 6-9, 220, Fr., F, Kayes, Mali, Africa.

14 — Brannen Greene, 6-7, 215, Jr., G, Juliette, Georgia.

15 — Carlton Bragg, Jr., 6-9, 220, Fr., F, Cleveland.

21 — Clay Young, 6-5, 205, Soph., F, Lansing.

22 — Dwight Coleby, 6-9, 240, Jr., F, Nassau, Bahamas.

31 — Jamari Traylor, 6-8, 220, Sr., F, Chicago.

33 — Landen Lucas, 6-10, 240, Jr., F, Portland, Oregon.

34 — Perry Ellis, 6-8, 225, Sr., F, Wichita.

42 — Hunter Mickelson, 6-10, 245, Sr., F, Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Head coach: Bill Self. Assistants: Kurtis Townsend, Norm Roberts, Jerrance Howard.