KNICK NOTES

If he hadn’t come out after his freshman year, Rockets rookie guard Steve Francis would be leading Maryland into the NCAA Tournament this week. And with Francis, the Terrapins would no doubt be one of the favorites to win the championship.

But instead of getting ready for The Big Dance, the 6-foot-3 Rookie of the Year favorite was scorching the Knicks for a game-high 32 points in Houston’s 91-85 ugly loss at the Garden last night.

With the Rockets going nowhere with a 24-40 record, Francis, who is practically a one-man team, admitted that he sometimes dreams of having stayed another year at Maryland. In fact, he still refers to the Terrapins as “us,” and said he was despondent over Maryland’s loss to Duke last week in the ACC finals.

“I thought about it,” said Francis, who came in to the Garden averaging 17.3 points a game. “But I’m still confident it was time for Steve Francis to start his NBA career.”

Last night, Francis shot 12 of 17, grabbed five rebounds and passed for four assists.

“I thought it would be a good opportunity to show everybody we still have the fire power to win big games.”

As concerned as Jeff Van Gundy is about the microphone issue, he’s equally opposed to the mandate that practice must be opened to the media for the final 30 minutes. Van Gundy wouldn’t say if he’s going to fight the practice issue, too. That mandate won’t start until April 1.

“As much as I don’ t like the idea of the microphone, I don’t like the idea of opening up practice,” Van Gundy said. “I believe we have a responsibility to promote the league but at some point I believe it’s important someone starts looking out for the game and its best interests. There’s certainly better learning goes on, better practices are achieved in private than they are in public.” Van Gundy will restructure practices and not hold strategy sessions in the final 30 minutes … Knicks have won six of their last seven vs. Houston … With their 36-29 edge on the boards last night, the Knicks have outrebounded their opponents in each of the last five games.