7-foot-1 Division III star A.J. Matthews of Farmingdale State Joel Cairo for The Wall Street Journal

The Polytechnic Institute of New York University is a roughly 1,800-undergraduate engineering school in downtown Brooklyn.

It is not—by any stretch of the imagination—a basketball school.

And yet, NYU-Poly's men's basketball squad faces a most unusual problem for a team of its modest talents: how to defend a 7-foot-1 pro prospect.

"You have to stay in front of him, hopefully," said 6-foot-7 Stefan Stovanovich, NYU-Poly's tallest player, who gets to guard Farmingdale State's A.J. Matthews. "And hope for the best."

On Thursday, in the sort of mismatch typically found at the high-school level, NYU-Poly plays host to Matthews and Farmingdale State. The occasion raises the question: How does a team on the lower rungs of college basketball prepare to face a player of this size and caliber?

NYU-Poly plays on the NCAA's Division III level, a world away from Division I, where the powers of the sport reside. D-III schools don't offer athletic scholarships, and thus have much less talent on their rosters and fans in their stands. And even on this level, NYU-Poly is on the lower end, with a 4-13 record, 1-10 in the Skyline Conference.

Farmingdale State is also a D-III program, but it has Matthews, a senior in his second year there after playing two years in junior college. He couldn't be reached for comment.

With Matthews averaging videogame-worthy numbers—22.8 points and 13.8 rebounds per game—Farmingdale State has run up a 14-5 record, 10-2 in the Skyline.

NYU-Poly's 4-13 basketball team, which has one player over 6 feet 3. The teams play each other Thursday. Kevin Hagen for The Wall Street Journal

"We assume that anytime he catches it on the block, it's two points," said NYU-Poly coach Nolan Adams, a former Skyline Conference player and current eighth-grade special-education teacher in Kensington.

Indeed: Matthews already destroyed the Jays once this season. On Dec. 1, he posted a career-high 37 points on just 16 shots, along with 23 rebounds and five blocks. Farmingdale State won easily, 81-54.

So in Thursday's rematch, Adams has a rather logical goal: Prevent the big man from getting the ball.

In practice, the coach considered any successful pass into the post to be a made basket. "The shot doesn't even need to go up," Adams said. "If he catches it cleanly, it's two points." Poly also plans to mix in a 2-3 zone and possibly even a zone press in an attempt to confuse Matthews.

Regardless, the player tasked with covering Matthews still has a thankless job.

Stovanovich, a computer engineering and electrical engineering double major gives up half a foot to Matthews, but he's the only option. His teammates top out at 6-foot-3. Plus, Stoyanovich has experience guarding bigger players. He was one of the tallest player on his North Carolina high-school team, which included 6-foot-11 Duke star Ryan Kelly.

"He's so much more athletic than most 7-footers," Stoyanovich said of Matthews. "It's a perfect storm."

The difficulties extend to the offensive end. NYU-Poly shot just over 26% during the first game. "Anytime you go in the lane and you see a 7-footer, you think twice about it," saidThomas Fabian, a sophomore mechanical-engineering major who is generously listed at 5-foot-11.

Despite Matthews's shot-altering size, going to the hoop remains a focus for the underdog squad. "Guys are intimidated to drive the lane because he blocks everything, and shots he doesn't block, he changes," Adams said. "But even though he's 7-foot and he's going to block eight to 10 shots, if we shoot 25 shots, there are 15 shots that we have the chance of scoring or getting free throws. We have to keep going at him and not treat him like he's superhuman."

"You have to game-plan different to some extent, but we don't want to treat him too differently because it would psych out our team," said Tom McDonough, another co-captain and the only upperclassman on the Poly roster.

Paying too much attention to Matthews is as dangerous as not trying to defend him enough because Farmingdale State has other skilled players, especially Ryan Davis, its point guard. "Everybody talks about Matthews, but Davis makes that team go," Fabian says.

Ultimately, however, the game is about the man in the middle. NYU-Poly's coach understands firsthand that battling such an impressive talent is a unique opportunity for his players, one they likely will remember long after the conclusion of Thursday night's game.

"I played against Neil Edwards, a 7-footer who went to the [NBA Development League]," said Adams. "It was difficult, but now looking back, it was a cool experience."

Corrections & Amplifications
A photo of NYU-Poly basketball players that appeared with a with this article was taken by Kevin Hagen for The Wall Street Journal. The picture was incorrectly credited to Joel Cairo, who took a photo of Farmingdale State players that also appeared with the article.