Irving out at least a week with injury

Kyrie Irving will miss at least a week with a sprained medial ligament in his right knee.

The Brooklyn Nets star had an MRI exam Feb. 2 that confirmed the team’s diagnosis after he was injured Saturday in Washington.

Irving got hurt in the fourth quarter of a 113107 loss, when he and Wizards guard Bradley Beal got tangled battling for a loose ball and Irving’s knee twisted as he landed on the court. He stayed down for a couple minutes before remaining in the game for the jump ball — in which he didn’t jump — and then left the court and went to the locker room.

Irving had his highest-scoring game of the season the previous night, scoring 54 points in a victory over Chicago.

The Nets said Irving will be re-evaluated in a week.

He will miss at least home games against Phoenix and Golden State — whose point guard, D’Angelo Russell, he replaced on the Nets — as well as a game at Toronto.

Irving previously missed 26 games in his first season in Brooklyn with a right shoulder injury. He also sat out one after returning with hamstring tightness and didn’t play last Sunday after learning of Kobe Bryant’s death.

Golf

PGA REMEMBERS BRYANT » The PGA Tour joined players with a 16th-hole tribute to Kobe Bryant at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, using his two Lakers uniform numbers to cut the final-round pin position on the stadium par 3.

The pin was placed 24 yards from the front edge and 8 yards from the left edge, putting it in the back left corner of the green on the rowdy hole that holds more than 20,000 fans.

Bryant, daughter Gianna and seven others were killed a week ago in a helicopter crash in California.

“That came from the the tour,” said Slugger White, the PGA Tour’s vice president of competition. “We thought it would be a nice tribute, the right thing to do, the class thing . ... The Thunderbirds (tournament organizers) and everyone have been on board. I’m glad we did it.”

College basketball

SOUTH CAROLINA WOMEN STAY HOT » Zia Cooke scored 20 points, and No. 1 South Carolina used its relentless defense to put away No. 22 Tennessee 69-48 for its 15th straight win.