COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : Indiana Romps, but Question Remains : Midwest Regional: Henderson’s status still unknown after 97-54 victory over Wright State.

On an evening when the subplot was more interesting than the score, Indiana answered one question (yes, it could humiliate Wright State), but was unable to complete the other mystery--that is, the ongoing saga of Hoosier forward Alan Henderson and his injured right knee.

Henderson, the supposed key to Indiana’s chances for a national championship, tested the still-tender knee against the 16th-seeded Raiders, but the results weren’t half as encouraging as the Hoosiers’ 97-54 victory in front of 36,003 in the Hoosier Dome.

Greeted with a standing ovation by what amounted to a home crowd, Henderson entered Friday night’s game with 13:57 remaining in the second half. Moments later he was beaten on a Wright State inbounds play. Then he missed a short jumper. Then he bounced gingerly on his feet while trying to guard Raider center Mike Nahar.

“He was kind of limping around,” Nahar said. “Today, he really didn’t show that much.”

Then again, he didn’t have to. When Henderson made his first basket with 11:54 left, giving Indiana a 30-point lead, you would have thought Keith Smart had just beaten Syracuse for the NCAA title. The crowd erupted and repeated the outburst nearly every time Henderson got near the ball.

First points. First rebound. First sip from the water bottle. It didn’t matter--Henderson could do no wrong, except make himself scarce minutes after game’s end. He was last seen being escorted from the Indiana locker room, an ice pack strapped to his knee, condition of his damaged ligaments unknown.

“Alan had played pretty well all week,” said Hoosier Coach Bob Knight, whose team entered the first round of the Midwest Regionals ranked and seeded No. 1. “He did some things in practice that he didn’t do here.”

Indiana (29-3) didn’t need Henderson Friday night . . . but it will. The Hoosiers’ next opponent--ninth-seeded Xavier--isn’t likely to miss 47 of 69 shots, as overmatched Wright State (20-10) did. Nor is Xavier likely to crumble under the weight of Hoosier fanaticism, which showed itself when about 25,000 Indiana faithful attended a 30-minute IU practice Thursday night at the Hoosier Dome.

More people attended the brief workout than attended any other NCAA first-round game played that day or Friday. In fact, when practice was finished, the Hoosiers--Knight and his staff--spelled out T-H-A-N-K-S on the court.

Chances are a scrimmage between Indiana’s first and second string would have been more competitive, if not more entertaining, than Friday’s game.

Wright State’s Bill Edwards, who entered the contest with a 25.5-point average, made six of 23 shots. He wasn’t alone. As a team, the Raiders shot 31.9% and were an even more miserable three of 16 (18.8%) from the three-point line. All told, it was the school’s worst Division I loss and set a Midwest Regional record for margin of defeat.

“It was hopeless with a few minutes left,” Nahar said. “I just wanted to get out of the big gym and go home and sleep.”

Responsible for inducing such drowsiness was All-American forward Calbert Cheaney, who played only 21 minutes but still scored 29 points and collected eight rebounds. Matt Nover, the closest thing to a center with Henderson out, added 17 points.

“Cheaney is the best player I’ve ever played against,” Nahar said. “I thought (Kentucky’s Jamal) Mashburn was good, but Cheaney . . . whew.”

The same can’t be said for Henderson. He played, but not even the 43-point Indiana victory could hide that bright red knee brace.