Monday’s Sports in Brief

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Coach Mike Krzyzewski says No. 5 Duke won’t have injured big man Marques Bolden for this week’s Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Krzyzewski told the school’s website that “there’s no way Marques will be ready” after he sprained a ligament in his left knee early in a loss at North Carolina in the regular-season finale.

The 6-foot-11 Bolden averages 5.8 points, 1.8 blocks and 4.7 rebounds for the third-seeded Blue Devils (26-5). Their tournament opener isn’t until Friday night in Charlotte.

Bolden was hurt about 2½ minutes into the UNC game when he fell into the basket support while picking up a foul on a block attempt at the rim.

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) —No. 6 Michigan State expects forward Nick Ward to play in the Big Ten Tournament.

Coach Tom Izzo says he isn’t sure how much the 6-foot-9 junior will be able to play nearly a month after having surgery on his left hand. The top-seeded Spartans will face the winner of the Ohio State-Indiana game Friday in the conference quarterfinals.

Ward is Michigan State’s second-leading scorer at 15.1 points a game and third-leading rebounder at 6.7 per game.

The Spartans (25-6, 16-4 Big Ten) won a second straight conference championship with Ward out for the last five games and third-leading scorer Joshua Langford missing the last 18 games with an injured left foot that needed season-ending surgery.

BASEBALL

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) —Bryce Harper played the outfield for the first time since signing a record $330 million, 13-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Harper started in right field against Tampa Bay. He took a 96 mph fastball for strike three in the first inning from AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, then walked in the fourth after Andrew McCutchen and Jean Segura hit consecutive homers off Jalen Beeks.

Harper caught two fly balls and cleanly played a double high off the wall during four innings of defense.

He was a designated hitter Saturday in his spring training debut and walked twice against Toronto. He did not play Sunday.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw threw his first bullpen since Feb. 20, an all-fastball session of 20 pitches.

The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner has been slowed by left shoulder discomfort.

Los Angeles is not sure whether Kershaw will be available for its March 28 opener against Arizona.

Kershaw will throw another bullpen and start throwing off-speed pitches soon. He has made eight consecutive opening-day starts but has mixed feelings about the importance of pitching this year’s opener.

MILWAUKEE (AP) —Veteran Milwaukee Brewers radio broadcaster Bob Uecker is touched that the team still considers him one of the boys.

Last November, after the Brewers came within one game of going to the World Series, the players voted to give a full playoff share to Uecker, worth $123,000. Uecker donated the money to charity.

The 85-year-old Hall of Fame broadcaster tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he “couldn’t believe it.” When he talked to players, Uecker says they told him, “Ueck, it was no big deal. You were part of that.”

After the Brewers clinched their first playoff berth in seven years with a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals last September, a video showed players dumping champagne and beer on Uecker as he pumped his arms.

Uecker is about to start his 49th season as a Brewers broadcaster. He has no plans to quit.

SOCCER

MADRID (AP) — Zinedine Zidane is returning to coach Real Madrid, the club he led to three straight Champions League titles.

Madrid says the former France great has accepted an offer to replace Santiago Solari, signing a contract until June 2022.

The coaching change comes less than a week after two losses to Barcelona and another to Ajax. The results eliminated the club from the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, and ended its hopes of winning the Spanish league.

Spanish television channel La Sexta was the first to report Zidane’s return. The official announcement came after the board of directors met Monday in Madrid.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Urban Meyer is headed back to television.

Fox announced Monday that it has hired the former Ohio State coach as one of the analysts for its retooled college football pregame show.

Meyer, who won national championships at Florida and Ohio State, retired last season after eight years in charge of the Buckeyes. He worked for ESPN as an analyst in 2010 after leaving Florida and before going to Ohio State.

During the Rose Bowl, Meyer said he enjoyed being a television analyst and did not rule out a return to broadcasting. He is also an assistant athletic director at Ohio State and teaches a class in the university’s business school.

Fox also announced that it has hired Reggie Bush and will move Brady Quinn from the booth to the studio. Bush will be reunited with former USC teammate Matt Leinart, who has been a part of Fox’s studio team since 2015.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — New Ohio State coach Ryan Day’s 10 assistant coaches will be paid a total of more than $7.4 million this year, according to contracts released by the university.

Co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison will be the highest paid with a $1.1 million base salary, more than double what he made as defensive line coach at Michigan last season. Al Washington, the linebackers coach Day also hired away from Michigan, got a bump from $375,000 to $500,000.

Quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Mike Yurcich, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley each will make $950,000, and defensive line coach Larry Johnson will earn $900,000.

The staff is rounded out by running backs coach Tony Alford ($800,000), offensive line coach Greg Studrawa ($600,000), special team/secondary coach Matt Barnes ($350,000) and receivers coach Brian Hartline ($345,000).

PRO HOCKEY

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel disputes the NHL’s decision to suspend him for two games for an illegal check to the head of Carl Soderberg of the Colorado Avalanche.

Eichel was suspended Sunday following a hearing with the league’s department of player safety.

He blamed Soderberg for lowering his head while the two raced for a loose puck along the boards during Colorado’s 3-0 victory Saturday. He said Soderberg was reaching for the puck and that his head hit Eichel’s back.

The NHL ruled Eichel was to blame because Soderberg didn’t change the direction he was heading, while Eichel cut sharply in front of Soderberg to initiate contact.

Eichel was penalized for an illegal hit. The suspension will cost him more than $107,500 in lost salary.

Alexander Nylander is expected to replace Eichel in the lineup after the 2016 first-round draft pick was called up from the minors.

HORSE RACING

ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) — Training resumed on Santa Anita’s main dirt track, with horses limited to jogging and galloping while the surface is monitored for any irregularities that may have caused the deaths of 21 horses since December.

Track consultant Dennis Moore says everything went well. He says all the testing data supports the decision to allow limited training while racing remains suspended indefinitely.

Moore says if all continues to go well with limited training, timed workouts could resume in the next couple days.

The inner training track has been reopened for timed workouts, with 133 horses being officially clocked for working out at distances ranging from two to six furlongs.

Santa Anita officials say a return to live racing is expected “in the near future.”