Notebook: Feverish Knight finds a way to contribute

SALT LAKE CITY — Erroll Knight had one of his best games at Gonzaga despite feeling his worst.

Knight, the fifth-year senior transfer from Washington, awoke early Saturday morning vomiting, with a 101-degree fever.

But he responded with 11 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes, including a couple of thunderous dunks and a memorable tip-in, as Gonzaga thwarted Indiana 90-80.

"It was tough," said Knight, the Chief Sealth High product. "But I wasn't going to let this stop me. I wasn't dead; I can still walk."

Said coach Mark Few, "At 1:30 at shoot-around, he wasn't looking good."

A couple of Knight's best games have thus come in the second round of the NCAA tournament. In a loss to Texas Tech last year, Knight had 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, with nine rebounds.

"Indiana did a good job guarding Adam [Morrison]," Knight said, "and they doubled J.P. [Batista]. But the back side was wide open."

Davis' stoic goodbye

Mike Davis wearily said goodbye to Indiana basketball, thanking his players as much for their effort over the last month as for their final game for the coach.

The Hoosiers' loss made official the resignation announced a month ago by Davis, 115-78 at the school after taking over for Bob Knight.

"I feel more sadness for them than anything because they've fought hard," Davis said during his postgame news conference.

"I feel like he really helped me grow up. I came here young, fresh out of high school and he really tested me," guard Marshall Strickland said.

The comments from Strickland and Robert Vaden, who said Davis had been a "father figure," finally brought out the emotions in Davis, who lowered his head and tried not to break down.

A breath of fresh air

Gonzaga snapped a recent streak of close wins, getting its first double-digit victory in five games. The Zags had won their past four by a total of 12 points, with four being the largest margin.

Indiana had showed a penchant for pulling out close games, going 6-4 in games decided by five points or less.

Even after leading by as many as 15 points in the second half, Gonzaga could not feel too comfortable.

Prior to facing the Zags, Indiana had shown itself to be a resilient second-half team. The Hoosiers had rallied after trailing by double digits five times — most recently in their 87-83 first-round victory over San Diego State.

Notes

• How rare was it for Gonzaga to have six players in double figures? No official word on when it last happened, but it hasn't this year. The Zags haven't had as many as five in double figures, and four only three times in 2005-06 — against Maryland, San Diego and Pepperdine.

• On the key sequence on which Indiana's Marco Killingsworth got a third foul on Batista — and quickly a fourth, on a technical foul — Batista said, "I got a little shove in the back, and the ref called a foul."

• Morrison was held to 5-of-17 shooting by the Hoosiers, saying, "They did a good job. [But] I missed shots I normally make."

• Few defended the 32-2 disparity in free throws made, noting that Gonzaga took the ball to the basket and Indiana shot 36 threes, making 16. The 16 makes ties a season high and the 36 attempted was most this year by the Hoosiers.

• Sean Mallon's 15 points and 10 rebounds marked his fourth career double-double and his second of the season. Mallon had 12 points and 10 rebounds in a 97-83 win over Portland in February. His output against Indiana matched his season highs in both points and rebounds.

• Morrison matched his season high of nine rebounds, which he collected in a 84-75 victory over San Francisco in January.

The Associated Press and correspondent John Coon contributed to this report.