Reeling Wyoming sends coach packing

Wyoming fired men's basketball coach Heath Schroyer on Monday, two days after the Cowboys lost their seventh consecutive game.

The Cowboys are 8-15 this season, including 1-8 in the Mountain West Conference.

Schroyer, who took over the program in 2007 after previous coach Steve McClain also was fired, compiled a 49-68 record over the 3½ seasons he was coach. His best season was 2008-09, when the team went 19-14 and earned a spot in the College Basketball Invitational tournament. The Cowboys lost at home to Northeastern in the first game.

Wyoming athletic director Tom Burman said associate head coach Fred Langley will serve as interim head coach the rest of the season.

A national search for a coach would begin immediately, Burman said.

"Although I am obviously disappointed in the university's decision to terminate my contract, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as head coach at the University of Wyoming," Schroyer said in a release.

Schroyer's current contract would have expired at the conclusion of the 2013-14 season. Under the terms of that contract, the school will pay him $160,000 per year for the remaining three years.

■ POLLS -- Ohio State was a unanimous choice as the No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25 men's poll for a second straight week.

The Buckeyes are 24-0 and the only unbeaten team. They are No. 1 for the fourth consecutive week and received all 65 first-places votes from the national media panel.

They are followed by Kansas, Texas, Pittsburgh and Duke. San Diego State and Brigham Young moved up one spot to sixth and seventh, respectively.

In the women's poll, Baylor's grip on No. 1 is becoming looser as Connecticut closes the gap.

The Lady Bears (21-1) received 23 first-place votes. No. 2 Connecticut (22-1) had 16 first-place votes, two more than last week.

The Huskies had two impressive victories, routing then-No. 3 Duke by 36 points and No. 9 DePaul by 23 points.

■ OKLAHOMA STATE -- Starting forward Darrell Williams was suspended by the team after he was charged with four felony counts alleging he inappropriately touched two women without their consent.

The 21-year-old Williams made a brief court appearance after he was charged with one count of sexual battery and three counts of rape by instrumentation. Several players, including fellow starters Keiton Page and Jean-Paul Olukemi, came to the Stillwater, Okla., courthouse and sat next to Williams in a packed courtroom or waited outside for his hearing to finish.

"It goes without saying that we take the charges very seriously," coach Travis Ford said in a statement. "Darrell will not travel or play while the legal issues are addressed."

Williams, a junior, was averaging 7.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in his first season at Oklahoma State after transferring in from Midland College in Texas. He had started 12 of 23 games, including the last six, and was named the Big 12's rookie of the week after he scored a career-high 18 points and had 12 rebounds in the Cowboys' 81-75 win against Oklahoma on Saturday.

■ MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Coach Rick Stansbury said guard Ravern Johnson has been suspended indefinitely.

Johnson, a 6-foot-7-inch senior, is averaging a team-leading 17.7 points per game. He was suspended for Saturday's 58-57 win over Louisiana State because of "inappropriate tweets" that were critical of his role with the team and of fans after the Bulldogs' 75-61 loss to Alabama on Feb. 2. Johnson scored 10 points in the loss to the Tide.

Now Stansbury said Johnson is also facing a suspension for violating the school's class attendance policy. Johnson still be will able to practice with the team.

■ AUBURN -- Forward Rob Chubb, suspended indefinitely last week, faces charges including public intoxication and resisting arrest following an arrest by police in Auburn, Ala.

A police report showed Chubb was arrested at 1:47 a.m. Jan. 30. He also was charged with disorderly conduct and attempting to elude a police officer. Both he and an officer reported injuries.

Chubb is averaging 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds.

■ TENNESSEE -- Freshman guard Jordan McRae was reinstated after serving a two-week suspension for a violation of team conduct rules.

Coach Bruce Pearl suspended McRae indefinitely on Jan. 22 while the Vols were in Hartford, Conn. McRae did not play in the loss at Connecticut that day.

■ LOUISVILLE -- A federal judge turned away a bid to postpone the sentencing for the woman convicted of attempting to extort Louisville coach Rick Pitino.

U.S. District Judge Charles R. Simpson said Karen Cunagin Sypher's attorneys have had enough time to prepare for the Feb. 18 hearing in federal court in Louisville, Ky.

Simpson also wrote that Sypher will not get a hearing on a pending motion for a new trial.