Kansas City, Mo ? Kansas University’s men’s basketball players want to win tonight for their coach.

“Coach Self is like the general. We are like the troops. We’re going to fight to keep our general alive, basically,” junior guard Michael Lee said.

First-year KU mentor Bill Self leads the No. 4-seeded Jayhawks against 13th-seeded Illinois-Chicago in a first-round NCAA Tournament game in Kemper Arena. Tipoff is 8:55 tonight, with a live telecast on channels 5 and 13.

Bitter University of Illinois fans likely are hoping a tiny school from the Land of Lincoln will end former Illini coach Self’s season.

“We want to take care of our coach,” Lee said.

To do that, the Jayhawks must beat a team that has won 12 straight games, including two single-elimination contests in the Horizon League tournament — at Butler and at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

“I’m sure they are very excited about the draw,” Self said of the Flames (24-7). “They get a chance to play a team that’s done very well over time. Our guys better respect them in every area, because they can bite you.

“They are tough. They play the game the same way coach Henson played it at Illinois when Jimmy was an assistant there. They make it difficult for you to score.”

UIC coach Jimmy Collins assisted Lou Henson 13 years at Illinois before taking his first head-coaching job at UIC, an inner-city Chicago commuter school.

Kansas University's Moulaye Niang, left, massages Michael Lee during practice. The Jayhawks worked out Thursday at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.

“We will go in with the mindset that we will not get overly emotional. We will go in doing the things we need to do to be in the game,” Collins said.

Those things include getting the ball to seniors Cedrick Banks and Martell Bailey.

Banks, a 6-foot-2, 165-pound guard, averages 18.5 points and 3.4 boards a game. Bailey, (5-10, 170) averages 7.7 points and has 245 assists against 107 turnovers.

“You could put Banks in the same group as the other wings in our conference, whether it be (Michel) Morandais, (Keith) Langford, (Rickey) Paulding, (Brandon) Mouton or (Andre) Emmett,” Self said.

“Banks is a scorer who would average 15 to 18 a game in our league. In some summer-league games he’s dropped 50 on some folks. He’s one of the best scorers to come out of Chicago in a while. He is the best-conditioned athlete we’ve played against all year. You’ll see when you see him play. He runs, and runs, and runs. With him, it’s constant motion.”

KU junior Keith Langford and freshman J.R. Giddens likely will defend Banks, who, like Bailey, is a graduate of Chicago power Westinghouse High.

“He’s the real deal,” Giddens said of Banks. “If I guard him I’ll have my work cut out. You’ve got to be aggressive and play him right. He’s good at taking it to the hole.”

Kansas fans plead for autographs as Aaron Miles leaves the Kemper Arena court.

Bailey, who has made just 36.6 percent of his shots, is second in the country in assists. KU’s Aaron Miles is fifth with 208 assists against 72 turnovers.

“Martell is like Aaron — one of the best point guards in the country,” KU associate head coach Norm Roberts said. “He is a pass first, run-your-team leader. He makes his team better. He’s as good as any point guard around.”

Self agrees.

“It’ll be a great matchup between two of the best assist guys in America,” Self said.

Last year, Bailey led the country in assists; Miles was 11th.

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“He gets the ball to the right people at the right time,” Miles said.

The Flames’ weakness is inside. Their tallest starter is senior Joe Scott, a 6-9, 230 senior from Palos Hills, Ill., who averages 6.8 points and 4.5 boards.

“They don’t have as many guys with standing height like we do,” Self said. “But they play big, tough. They are a lot like the teams I had at Tulsa. They are undersized guys that can play. In Chicago, guys are athletic, can pass, catch and drive it.”

Two years ago, Oklahoma toppled UIC, 71-63, in a first-round NCAA contest — not exactly a blowout.

“We will be fired up,” Miles said. “We have to be. If we don’t rise to their level of intensity and enthusiasm, this tournament is one and done. We can’t afford that. This is not going to be a walk in the park.”

Self thinks it could resemble the KU-Iowa State games of this year. The Jayhawks lost to Iowa State in Ames, then beat the Cyclones in overtime in Lawrence.

“They might be like Iowa State the way their perimeter guys can break you down,” Self said. “Our guys respect them. They know it’s a talented team as hot as any team in the country.”

The winner of tonight’s KU-UIC game will meet the winner of the Providence-Pacific contest at 3:50 p.m. Sunday at Kemper Arena, with the winner of that game advancing to next week’s Sweet 16 in St. Louis.

The Jayhawks want to advance, fans in Illinois be darned.

“We want to take care of coach,” point guard Miles said, “but we want to win not just because of him. We want to win because we have some goals as a team.”