Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — BASKETBALL Mulkey has Bell’s palsy

Baylor women’s Coach Kim Mulkey has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis that she says won’t change the way she coaches in the Final Four. Mulkey went to see two doctors and had a magnetic resonance imaging Wednesday instead ofgoing to practice after she had what she described as a weird feeling in her mouth while eating, then saw in a mirror that her left eye was drooping and her smile was crooked. She had also noticed a strange feeling inher tongue while in Des Moines for the NCAA regional last weekend. After checking with team trainer Alex Olson to make sure she wasn’t getting ready to have a stroke, he told her she needed to get immediate attention. The diagnosis of Bell’s palsy came after the MRI that ruled out a tumor or a stroke. Olson said Mulkey is being treated with anti-viral medication and oral steroids to reduce the inflammation of the facial nerve that causes the problem. Baylor plays Stanford on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament semifinals.

John Groce took the Ohio Bobcats deeper into the NCAA Tournament than they had been in nearly 50 years. He will get a chance to bring that level of success back to a Big Ten team. Illinois introduced Groce as its new head coach Thursday, bringing him in to replace the fired Bruce Weber. Groce, 40, has been at Ohio, a Mid-American Conference school, since 2008. He led the Bobcats to the NCAA Tournament twice, including a run to the Sweet 16 this year that ended withan overtime loss to North Carolina. The Bobcats hadn’t been that far in the tournament since 1964. Groce was an assistant with Thad Matta at Butler, Xavier and Ohio State before taking over at Ohio. In four seasons at Ohio, Groce was 85-56 overall and 34-30 in MAC games. The competition will increase sharply in the Big Ten for Groce, who will take over an Illini team that finished the year 17-15 after a 2-12 collapse at theend of the season. The fall from the top of the Big Ten and a spot in the Top 25 to ninth place in the conference cost Weber his job after nine seasons, and the Illini for the third time in five seasons were left out of the NCAA Tournament. Groce was reportedly targeted after Virginia Commonwealth’s Shaka Smart and Butler’s Brad Stevens passed up chances to take over at Illinois. He will be expected to restore some luster to the Illini, who have tailed off since losing the national title game in 2005 to North Carolina even as expectations remain high.

Danny Manning, the Kansasassistant and former player for the Jayhawks, has agreed to coach the Tulsa men’s team. Tulsa announced the hire Thursday. Manning, 45, is in New Orleans, where Kansas will play Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament semifinals Saturday night. He won’t join the Golden Hurricane until next week. Manning has spent nine years on the Kansas staff and has been a full-time assistant since 2007. He won national championships as a player (1988) and assistant (2008). The school’s alltime leading scorer and rebounder takes over for Doug Wojcik, who was fired by Tulsa after failing tomake the NCAA Tournament in six seasons.

Two people with knowledge of the interview said North Texas women’s coach Karen Aston (Bryant) has met with Texas officials about the vacant Longhorns job. Former Texas Coach Gail Goestenkors resigned March 20 after the Longhorns failed to advance past the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth year in a row. Aston is a former Texas assistant (1998-2006), who has spent the last five seasons as the head coach at Charlotte and North Texas. She’s the only coach to come to Austin for an interview for the job.

TENNIS Sharapova edges Wozniacki

Maria Sharapova was confused and Caroline Wozniacki was angry. The linesman was wrong and the chair umpire was right. Sharapova won the disputed final point after an overrule by the umpire, edging Wozniacki 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 Thursday in the semifinals at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. At 40-30 in the lastgame, Sharapova hit a second serve that the linesman called long, which would have been a doublefault, but umpire Kader Nouni immediately reversed the ruling and ordered the point replayed. The call couldn’t be reviewed because Wozniacki had no challenges left, although TV replays showed Nouni was correct to overrule. Sharapova was awarded two serves and took advantage with a big first serve to set up an overhead slam for the victory. Wozniacki, angry about the overrule, declined to shake Nouni’s hand and had words with him as she walked to the exit. Sharapova said she didn’t realize Wozniacki had no challenges left, and added she would have challenged the call herself had it not been overruled. Sharapova’s opponent Saturday will be No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat No. 7 Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-2. Inthe men’s quarterfinal, top-ranked Novak Djokovic advanced to the men’s semifinals without argument, beating No. 5 David Ferrer 6-2, 7-6 (1). Djokovic will play No. 21 Juan Monaco, who advanced on his 28th birthday by eliminating the last American in either singles draw, No. 8 Mardy Fish, 6-1, 6-3.

FOOTBALL Montana fires coach, athletic director

The University of Montana fired football Coach Robin Pflugrad and Athletic Director Jim O’Day on Thursday, adding more uncertainty to a program already dealing with sexual assault allegations against two players.

Pflugrad, 54, who was honored as Big Sky Coach of the Year last season, and O’Day were notified in a meeting with university President Royce Engstrom that their contracts would not be renewed, said assistant athletic director Greg Sundberg.

O’Day and Engstrom addressed staff and coaches in separate meetings Thursday morning, but neither gave a reason for the firings, Sundberg said.

“I think it was time for a leadership change, is what I gathered,” Sundberg said.

Engstrom sent a statement Thursday afternoon that shed no light on the reason behind the firings, simply thanking O’Day and Pflugrad for their service and saying the university plans to announce an interim coach and athletic director by the end of the week.

The Missoulian in Missoula, Mont., first reported the story Thursday morning.

The firings cap six months of tumult for the university and the football program. Earlier this month, a university student accused starting quarterback Jordan Johnson of sexually assaulting her. No charges have been filed. Johnson was temporarily suspended from spring practice while a temporary restraining order was issued against him. After the restraining order was dissolved last week to be replaced by a civil no-contact agreement, Johnson was allowed to participate in a Saturday scrimmage.

Pflugrad welcomed him back to the field, calling Johnson a person of “tremendous moral fiber” in a statement that was criticized by the alleged victim’s attorney.

In January, running back Beau Donaldson was suspended from the team after he was charged with raping an acquaintance in September 2010. He has pleaded innocent.

Last fall, police used a stun gun against two football players after quarterback Gerald Kemp and cornerback Trumaine Johnson scuffled with officers responding to a noise complaint. They pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct charges.

Sundberg said none of those allegations were raised Thursday.

Pflugrad guided the Grizzlies to a co-conference championship in his second year as coach. Sam Houston State defeated Montana in the semifinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs last year. The Grizzlies beat Central Arkansas in the second round Dec. 3.