WKU's guard Chris Harrison-Docks (51) passes the ball during their game Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015, E.A. Diddle Arena. (Miranda Pederson/photo@bgdailynews.com)

Western Kentucky point guard Chris Harrison-Docks took just five shots in Saturday’s 77-61 win over Florida International, but coach Ray Harper called the effort Monday one of the sophomore’s “best in a WKU uniform.”

Harrison-Docks scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting with five assists and one turnover in 32 minutes.

“If you look at his stat line from Saturday – and I’m not saying he’s a guy who can’t make shots – but that’s what his stat line needs to look like,” Harper said on his weekly radio show. “He was under control. Guys got the basketball when they were open at all times.”

Harrison-Docks averages more than nine shots per game.

Over WKU’s last two games, he’s taken 11 total shots with eight assists and two turnovers.

During the Tops’ four-game losing streak before that, he was a combined 14 of 49 (28.6 percent) from the field with five assists and eight turnovers.

“You’re trying to break some habits of a guy who averaged 26 a game in high school,” Harper said. “He was a scoring point guard. I don’t think it’s that he doesn’t want to do it our way, but hopefully we can continue the next two weeks with him playing like that. … If he keeps doing that, he’s going to get a lot more wide-open looks.

“That ball is going to come back home, and if you let him have open looks, he’s going to make you pay.”

Fighting the flu

Four Hilltoppers have battled the flu over the last week, Harper said.

Freshman forward Rob Marberry wasn’t in uniform Saturday against FIU. Freshman guard DJ Clayton suited up despite a 102-degree temperature at shootaround but didn’t play.

Harper said Monday that freshman forward Justin Johnson and junior forward Nigel Snipes have also dealt with the illness.

“As of right now, the only one that didn’t practice today was Justin Johnson,” Harper said Monday. “This thing is a different type of flu. I’m not sure what it is. Rob, for example, it him last Monday, and he didn’t even suit up Saturday. DJ, it hit him Saturday morning. Got the fever down in time for the game.

“(Trainer) Mike Gaddie did a good job taking care of him(Sunday), and he was back and felt much better today – same with Nigel. I’m hoping it’s a 24- or 48-hour flu.”

Emotional senior night

Senior guard Trency Jackson had some added emotion on Saturday’s senior night.

Jackson was informed Friday night that his grandmother, who helped raise him, passed away. Harper said the coaching staff and Jackson’s mother questioned how to tell Trency before his mother broke the news that evening.

Jackson scored a game-high 17 points with five assists in his final game in E.A. Diddle Arena.

“He’s been through some hard times,” Harper said. “He was strong.”

— Zach Greenwell