Kansas center Paul Mbiya (34) goes up for a shot against California Baptist during the first half on Friday, March 20, 2026 at Viejas Arena in San Diego. Photo by Nick Krug

SAN DIEGO — It took just two weeks for one of Kansas head coach Bill Self’s senior-day proclamations to bear fruit.

After freshman forward Paul Mbiya threw down a couple of dunks on March 7 in the Jayhawks’ dominant home win over Kansas State, Self declared that Mbiya — the 7-foot “Big Paul” with a 7-foot-8-wingspan — had been “no question our most improved guy, just in the last three or four weeks.”

It’s been a steep learning curve for Mbiya in his first year stateside after he made the move from France. He entered Friday’s NCAA Tournament opener with season highs of 11 minutes and four points and frequently looked like he had plenty of work to do to catch up to the pace of the collegiate game.

Not so much against Cal Baptist. Self went to Mbiya early after Bryson Tiller had played for a few minutes with one early foul, and the decision paid off, to the tune of eight points, three rebounds and a block in a career-high 16 minutes.

“A lot of times when a guy gets a foul early, like, with 16 (minutes) left, you probably want to, if you can stretch it and get him close to the 12-minute timeout, take him out then to try to protect him from getting a second in that period of time,” Self said. “So there was no strategy saying ‘Let’s go with Paul.’ But I’m glad we did, because I thought Paul was really good tonight.”

The Lancers possessed uncommon size for a mid-major team with 6-foot-11 and 7-foot frontcourt starters, but the insertion of Mbiya tested the mettle of their big men, especially at the defensive end.

“Flory and Bryson weren’t very effective scoring the ball,” Self said. “And Paul’s a big body, and I thought he was great. Darryn (Peterson) was probably our best player tonight. But Paul was probably our second-best player tonight. I thought he was great.”

In the first half, Mbiya dunked twice, once off a lob from Melvin Council Jr. (“Got to get the big fella some touches,” Council said afterward.) In the second, when points were especially hard to come by, he had a putback and a layup.

“Him and Flory (Bidunga) go at it every day in practice, so we weren’t surprised by that at all,” said Peterson, who scored 28 points. “He was huge for us tonight.”

Mbiya kept it straightforward as reporters swarmed him in the locker room postgame, stating that he was simply trying to give the team his best effort.

“I was just ready, you know, every day, like every game,” Mbiya said. “So just ready when he called my name, trying to help my team and give my best on the court.”

The native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo hasn’t always heard his name called in significant moments this season. He didn’t exceed five minutes in any given game between Nov. 11 and Feb. 28, and outside of a key layup against Tennessee on Nov. 26, he lacked a significant impact in many of his appearances.

But the prospect of a viable third big man to spell Bidunga and Tiller bodes well for KU as it proceeds through the NCAA Tournament — especially given the substantial negative effects of frontcourt foul trouble for the Jayhawks in a handful of previous games this year (Feb. 28 at Arizona comes to mind).

Mbiya said he felt he had improved “everywhere” over the course of the season, “so like experience, listening to the coaches, what they want me to do on the court.” Self was particularly impressed by his offense on Friday.

“He showed that he could play above the rim,” Self said. “And he caught a couple of lobs and made a really good move when he backed a guy down from about 12 feet. So those were all good things. He’s improved a lot. He’s had a really good last month. But that excites me because we’re going to be playing some teams that are bigger than us, and it would be nice to have another big body out there.”

Most immediately, St. John’s looms on Sunday afternoon with a pair of physical, bulky forwards in 6-foot-8 Dillon Mitchell and 6-foot-9 Zuby Ejiofor.

Another strong performance from Mbiya would surely delight KU’s fans — who have been known to chant his name at home games in his sparse appearances — as well as its other players, who get excited on the bench whenever he does just about anything.

But why? Council, for his part, joked that Mbiya — who speaks French, Lingala, Swahili, and English — is so likable because his teammates are able to talk to him and he doesn’t really understand it.

“He’s a hard worker, you know,” said Bidunga, more seriously. “I go against him every day in practice. I know what he can do. And then, you know, he has a chance to prove it. He has more to show, I feel like. He just needs to get comfortable, but so far, he really stepped up for our team.”