Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — BASKETBALL

Miles to coach Nebraska

Nebraska has lured Colorado State’s Tim Miles to Lincoln to take over as coach of its men’s team. Colorado State Athletic Director Jack Graham announced Friday night Miles had resigned so he could take the job with the Cornhuskers. Miles, who toured Nebraska’s facilities Friday, will be introduced at a newsconference today. Miles, 45, who replaces Doc Sadler (Greenwood), just finished his fifth year at Colorado State. He coached the Rams to a 20-12 record this season and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since2003. They lost to Murray State 58-41 in their tournament opener. Miles will take over a struggling Nebraska program that hasn’t won a share of a conference championship since 1950 or played in the NCAA Tournament since 1998. The Huskers have never won a game in six NCAA appearances. Messages were left seeking comment from Miles and Nebraska associate athletic director for basketball Marc Boehm. Sadler was at Nebraska for six years. He was fired March 9 after the Huskers went 12-18 and tied for last with Penn State in its first season in the Big Ten. Boehm said two weeks ago that he and Athletic Director Tom Osborne were looking to hire a proven program builder. Colorado State improved in each of Miles’ five seasons. The Rams went from 7-25 his first year to 9-22, 16-16, 19-13 and 20-12. The 2010-2011 season marked Colorado State’s first winning record in seven years, and its nine conference victories were its most since the Mountain West formed in 1999-2000. Miles signed a three-year contract extension last May that runs through 2015-2016. He earned $585,000 this season and was set to be paid $750,000 in 2012-2013. Ohio’s John Groce, one of the hottest mid-major coach after leading the Bobcats to the NCAA regional semifinals, and Oregon’s Dana Altman, who grew up in Nebraska and coached at Creighton in Omaha, also had been mentioned as possible candidates.

Boston Celtics guard Mickael Pietrus left the court on a stretcher and will remain hospitalized overnight after an awkward collision late in the first half of Friday night’s 99-86 loss against Philadelphia. Pietrus was listed as having a questionable closed head injury.Coach Doc Rivers said Pietrus had X-rays and a magnetic resonance imaging. He had no other information. Pietrus crashed to the court after he collided with 76ers guard Lou Williams on a drive down the lane. Pietrus landed hard on his tailbone and his head nearly smacked the court. He instantly clutched the back of his head with both hands and rolled over on his side. Pietrus was down for at least 10 minutes and was quickly tended to by trainers from both teams. The Celtics circled Pietrus and a couple of players took a knee as the swingman was put on a stretcher and taken out. Celtics sat on the bench with their heads bowed. “It looked awful,” Rivers said. “I just saw his neck snap. You knew that was bad. He was throwing up on the floor, so that’s not very good either.” Pietrus started in place of injured guard Ray Allen.

Ron Everhart has been fired as men’s basketball coach at Duquesne. Everhart spent six seasons with the Dukes, went 99-89, and took the embattled program to postseason play three times. But questions began to surface this week, when three members of the team - including sophomore point guard T.J. Mc-Connell, the team’s best overall player - announced intentions to transfer. Duquesne Athletic Director Greg Amodio made the announcement on Friday. Everhart’s best season came in 2008-2009, when the Dukes advanced to the Atlantic 10 Tournament title game, before falling to Temple. They landed in the NIT that season, losing to Virginia Tech, and would go on to make a postseason tournament the next two years. Duquesne finished 16-15 this season, and lost to Massachusetts in the first round of the conference tournament.

New Orleans Hornets forward Jason Smith has been suspended two games without pay for his hard foul that sent Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin crashing hard to the court during a fast break. In announcing the suspension Friday, NBA executive Stu Jackson said Smith’s foul during the late stages of the Hornets’ victory on Thursday night involved “excessive contact with the upper body.” Griffin did not leave the game but was down on the court for about a minute after the collision while other players gathered in a tense moment behind the basket. Smith was called for a flagrant foul and ejected. Smith will now miss the Hornets’ home game with San Antonio today and Monday night’s rematch with the Clippers in Los Angeles.

TENNIS

Azarenka wins opener

Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka extended her winning streak to 24 matches Friday by beating Michaella Krajicek 6-3, 7-5 in the second round at the Sony Ericsson Open. Azarenka’s streak began with her first match this year, and her start is the best since Martina Hingis went 37-0 to begin 1997. Azarenka is bidding for her third Key Biscayne title and second in a row. On the men’s side, No. 10 seed John Isner overcame a slow start to beat Nikolay Davydenko 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Davydenko retreated eight feet behind the baseline to better cope with the 6-foot-9 Isner’s booming serves, but failed to break in the final two sets. Also reaching the third round was No. 4 Andy Murray, who beat Alejandro Falla 6-2, 6-3. Murray, the 2009 champion, bounced back from a loss in his first match at Indian Wells two weeks ago. He also avoided a repeat of last year, when he lost his opening match at both Indian Wells and Key Biscayne. With the victory, Murray improved to 15-3 this year. Other seeded men to advance included No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 9 Janko Tipsarevic, No. 13 Gilles Simon, No. 18 Alexandr Dolgopolov and No. 22 Jurgen Melzer. No. 15 Ana Ivanovic lost only six points on her first serve and beat American Vania King 6-4, 7-5. Ivanovic was playing for the first time since she retired with a left hip injury a week ago at the Indian Wells semifinals. Two wild cards eliminated seeded women. Garbine Muguruza Blanco of Spain upset No. 9 Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-3, and Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada rallied past No. 28 Monica Niculescu 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.Other seeded women eliminated included No. 18 Angelique Kerber, No. 27 Lucie Safarova, No. 31 Kaia Kanepi and No. 32 Nadia Petrova. As Azarenka began a bid for her third Key Biscayne title, she was far from sharp against Krajicek, double-faulting six times and losing three service games. But Krajicek was even more erratic with her serve. Krajicek failed to hold at 5-4 in the second set, double-faulting three times. When Azarenka put away an overhead for 5-all, Krajicek angrily flung her racket against the backstop, and a linesman hopped to avoid getting hit. With Krajicek in meltdown mode, Azarenka took advantage and swept the final 10 points.

HOCKEY

Keith suspended 5 games

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith was suspended for five games without pay by the NHL on Friday for elbowing Vancouver star Daniel Sedin in the head. Keith lunged at Sedin in the neutral zone in the first period of Chicago’s 2-1 overtime victory Wednesday night, hitting Sedin in the head. Sedin didn’t have the puck at the time. Keith was given a minor penalty for elbowing. The suspension will cost him $149,688. Sedin missed the Canucks’ victory Thursday night in Dallas because of a suspected concussion. He has 30 goals and 37 assists in 72 games this season. Keith waived his right to an in-person hearing when the league’s department of player safety requested he come to New York and had a phone hearing with NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan.

FOOTBALL

Bowl staying in Mobile

The Senior Bowl is staying in Mobile, Ala., through 2015. The showcase for senior NFL prospects has renewed its lease with Ladd-Peebles Stadium for the next three years. The chairman of the Mobile Arts and Sports Association, Angus R. Cooper II, told the Mobile Press-Register Friday that “the Senior Bowl is Mobile’s game and it’s here to stay.” The association operates the Senior Bowl. It has been played in Mobile since 1951. Then-President and CEO Steve Hale explored moving the game in 2009. The contract can be extended again through the 2018 game.

Former Penn State defensive end Shawn Oakman has been charged with summary offenses of retail theft, harassment and disorderly conduct after campus police were called to a dormitory complex last month. A university police log on Friday listed the charges against Oakman, which stemmed from a police call Feb. 25. The team had announced three days later that Oakman was dismissed from the squad due to an unspecified rule violation. Court records showed citations were filed Thursday. An email message from The Associated Press to Oakman seeking comment was not immediately returned. A phone number for Oakman could not immediately by found. The 6-9, 270-pound defensive end from Lansdowne, Pa., sat out last season as a redshirt freshman.