Transition game; Indiana's passage from Bob Knight to Mike Davis was anything but smooth, but 18 months later, the program has proved it's larger than any person. (College Basketball).(Statistical Data Included)

The perilous, fractious, curious journey to this particular corner of paradise began on a lovely September afternoon in Indiana University's Assembly Hall. If you were there that day in 2000, you remember how quiet it seemed in the gym, how uncommonly peaceful, especially with the basketball program still in the center of the cyclone unleashed by the most controversial firing in the history of collegiate athletics.

IU students nearly rioted in the hours after Bob Knight's dismissal. Players threatened a group transfer. The administration was cornered into replacing Knight with Mike Davis, who had been a smashing success as the program's top recruiter and now was handed the sudden opportunity to demonstrate his abilities as a head coach.

Davis' recollection of his first hours on the floor is as blank as a sheet of tablet paper. "I was so nervous at that point," he says. "I knew I could coach--but this is a big program. I was so afraid, I didn't know what to do."

Eventually, Davis figured it out. His players trusted he had. Eighteen months removed from that afternoon, they defeated Kent State in the South Regional final--earning the program's eighth Final Four trip--and proved Indiana basketball is bigger than any one person. Even if that person is a giant.

Indiana's first 3 landed 66 seconds into the game against Kent State. It was launched by senior Dane Fife, who spent two years under Knight guarding like a pit bull and running from shots as though one were on his tail. Fife added another 36 seconds later. Then it was Kyle Hornsby's turn to unleash that hunch-backed, modified set shot of his. When center Jarrad Odle stepped to the left wing and landed one with 17:05 left in the half, it was apparent the Golden Flashes would be run from this tournament 3 points at a time.

Indiana nailed the first eight 3-pointers it attempted last Saturday. Having watched star Jared Jeffries destroy Duke two days earlier with his gift for destabilizing defenders by dribbling in the post, Kent State coach Stan Heath adjusted his defense to focus more inside. With room to shoot, the Hoosiers produced 45 of their 81 points on 3s.

That balance will be the quandary for Oklahoma in Saturday's NCAA Tournament semifinal. The Sooners have established themselves as the nation's most oppressive defensive team, but Indiana's variety of styles and weapons poses a challenge.