Wash.’s Fultz remains out
Washington freshman Markelle Fultz, the leading scorer in the Pac12 Conference, has not been cleared by team doctors to play due to a sore knee and may miss the final two regular-season games.
Coach Lorenzo Romar said yesterday that Fultz has yet to be given clearance by the team’s medical staff to return to game action. Fultz, considered by many draftniks to be the surething No. 1 overall pick in the June NBA draft, has missed three of the past five games due to the knee issue, including last Sunday’s loss to rival Washington State.
Romar didn’t rule Fultz out for tonight’s game against No. 3 UCLA but didn’t sound optimistic Fultz would be cleared in time. Washington closes out the regular season at USC on Saturday before opening the Pac-12 tournament next week in Las Vegas.
Fultz leads the conference averaging 23.2 points per game, but the Huskies have lost 10 straight.
baylor safety suspended
Baylor safety Travon Blanchard has been suspended after the school was notified that a protective order had been issued against him.
The Baylor athletic department released a statement saying it was aware of the complaint made by a woman against Blanchard through the McLennan County (Texas) District Attorney’s Office.
Baylor says it was notified on Feb. 7 and appropriate campus student-conduct process was initiated. Blanchard was suspended indefinitely from all team-related activities. . . .
Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio has released a statement saying he has “high standards” for his football program and expects players and staff to “conduct themselves in a manner that reflects the values and principles of Michigan State University.”
Dantonio has kept a low profile after allegations of sexual assault were made against three football players. The school announced the players’ suspensions from team activities last month. They also were removed from on-campus housing. Their names have not been released.
A staff member associated with the football program also was suspended.
hurting murray rolls
Andy Murray may be coming off a bout of shingles, but he looked in good shape during a 6-4, 6-1 first round victory over Malik Jaziri at the Dubai Tennis Championships in United Arab Emirates.
The top-ranked Murray was playing his first match since being upset by Mischa Zverev in the Australian Open fourth round last month.
Murray said that his mother-inlaw was the first to suggest he had shingles, which a doctor confirmed the next day. . . .
Novak Djokovic beat Martin Klizan 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the opening round of the Mexican Open in Acapulco.
The win was Djokovic’s first since his shocking loss in the second round of the Australian Open.
rory: Tiger in ‘good place’
Rory McIlroy says Tiger Woods was in a good place mentally when they had lunch last week and that the next few weeks would go a long way in determining whether the four-time Masters champion shows up at Augusta National to play.
“It’s a possibility, for sure,” McIlroy said.
Woods withdrew from the second round of the Dubai Desert Classic on Feb. 3 with back spasms and withdrew from his next two tournaments. His agent said it was not being viewed as an extended break. Woods has not said anything about the Arnold Palmer Invitational in two weeks or the Masters on April 6-9.
If Woods does not play the Masters, it will be the third time in four years he did not compete at Augusta National. McIlroy said they had lunch alone and that “mentally, he’s in a good place.”
Tibet team denied entry
A Tibet women’s soccer team has been denied U.S. visas to participate in a tournament in Dallas.
Cassie Childers, a coach and executive director for Tibet Women’s Soccer, said that 16 members of the team were told at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India, that they “have no good reason to visit the U.S.,” during their visit on Feb. 24. They were seeking travel visas to participate in the Dallas Cup soccer tournament scheduled to take place April 9-16. . . .
Attendance at the first Breeders’ Cup to be run at Del Mar (Calif.) will be capped at 37,500 per day during the two-day event in November.
By comparison, last year’s event at Santa Anita attracted a record 118,484 over two days, the most in the event’s 33-year history. The Saturday attendance of 72,811 was a single-day record since it expanded to two days.