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Bulldogs on their guard

Expect Gonzaga wing Erroll Knight, left, who supplied some much-needed energy against Xavier, to play an even larger role today against Indiana. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
By Steve Bergum steveb@spokesman.com
Expect Gonzaga wing Erroll Knight, left, who supplied some much-needed energy against Xavier, to play an even larger role today against Indiana. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

SALT LAKE CITY – Coach Mark Few hinted that Gonzaga fans could see more of David Pendergraft and Erroll Knight than normal this afternoon when his third-seeded Bulldogs take on perennial Big TenConference power and sixth-seeded Indiana in the second round of the NCAA tournament in the Huntsman Center.

The reason, he explained, is the four-guard look employed by the Hoosiers (19-11), who rely primarily on spreading the floor and creating offensive opportunities off dribble penetration and kick-out passes.

“We may have to go with more of Pendo and Erroll at the four,” Few said following a Wednesday press conference. “We looked at that today in practice.”

In an ideal world, Few would rather use his two big power forwards – 6-foot-9 junior Sean Mallon and 6-11 redshirt freshman Josh Heytvelt – and post up Indiana’s small front-liners. But he realizes that can present some matchup problems on defense.

In Thursday night’s 87-83 first-round win over San Diego State, for instance, the Hoosiers got 18 points from the productive trio of guards Earl Calloway and Robert Vaden and 6-8 senior center Marco Killingsworth.

The sight of Calloway, a 6-3 junior who was averaging just more than five points a game, using his quickness to dart inside and torch the Aztecs on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor was especially disconcerting to Few.

“That was scary to watch,” he said. “Their perimeter quickness and ability to spread you out present some real problems. They can shoot the 3 so well, and yet they’re so quick to catch and rip and get to the basket.”

In Pendergraft, a 6-6 sophomore, and Knight, a 6-7 senior with game-changing athletic ability, the Bulldogs (28-3) have a couple of defenders more capable of dealing with UI’s perimeter quickness than Mallon or Heytvelt.

Whatever the Zags do at the power forward spot, they still stand to cause some considerable problems for Indiana’s defense, which must deal with 6-8 junior wing Adam Morrison, the nation’s leading scorer.

The Hoosiers’ Vaden, a 6-5 sophomore and defensive stopper, has been slowed recently by an ankle sprain.

“We don’t really have anyone who can guard him,” UI coach Mike Davis said of Morrison, who is averaging 28.6 points per game after hanging 35 on Xavier in Thursday’s 79-75 first-round win. “There’s nothing we really can do but hope he misses shots.”

Indiana played Duke early in the year and tried to defend the Blue Devils’ J.J. Redick by committee, running several players at the 6-4 senior shooting guard.

Even though Redick finished with 29 points in Duke’s 75-67 win, the Hoosiers plan to do much the same thing against Morrison.

“We threw a lot of guys at J.J.,” recalled UI’s Marshall Strickland, a 6-2 senior guard, “and I’m sure we’re going to do the same thing against Adam.”

Few expects the Hoosiers, with Vaden ailing, to slap a small, quick defender – Strickland or 6-2 sophomore A.J. Ratliff, perhaps – on Morrison, much like WCC rival Loyola Marymount did during the regular season.

“That’s worked in the past,” Few added, “but (Morrison) always kinds of adjusts.”