IN BRIEF

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Former Palo Verde standout Loyd will transfer from BYU

Former Palo Verde High School guard Michael Loyd Jr. is transferring from Brigham Young after two seasons.

Coach Dave Rose said in a release Thursday that he and Loyd have decided he should finish his education and basketball career at another school.

Loyd played his freshman season in 2007-08. He sat out the next year as a redshirt, then returned last season and averaged 5.1 points and 1.2 assists.

He scored a career-high 26 points in the Cougars' double-overtime win over Florida in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Also: The road to the Final Four will have a new look next season.

The NCAA's board of directors approved expansion from 65 to 68 teams and endorsed a proposal to add three more opening-round games to the schedule. It's the second time in a quarter-century that the NCAA has increased the number of teams competing for the national championship.

Michigan State and Kansas will be joined by Memphis and Syracuse at New York's Madison Square Garden for the Jimmy V Classic in December. The Jayhawks will play Memphis in the opener Dec. 7, and the Spartans will meet Syracuse in the nightcap.

TENNIS

UNLV women's, men's squads advance in MWC tournament

Fighting off cold and breezy conditions, the second-seeded UNLV women's tennis team defeated Air Force 4-0 in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Championships at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

The Rebels will face Texas Christian at 2 p.m. today in one semifinal. Top-seeded Utah will meet San Diego State in the other semifinal. The final is at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The sixth-seeded UNLV men's team upset third-seeded New Mexico 4-3 to advance to today's semifinal against San Diego State.

Top-seeded Brigham Young will face fourth-seeded Texas Christian in the other semifinal. Both matches will start at 10 a.m. The final is at 10 a.m Saturday.

Also: Rafael Nadal improved his record at the Rome Masters to 24-1 with a methodical 6-3, 6-2 win against 39th-ranked Victor Hanescu.

Nadal will face Stanislas Wawrinka, who took out Robin Soderling, 6-3, 6-2.

Second-ranked Novak Djokovic defeated Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-4 and will meet Fernando Verdasco. Verdasco edged Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

David Ferrer claimed his tour-best 21st win on clay this year, stopping Andy Murray, 6-3, 6-4.

Justine Henin outlasted Belgian teammate Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany.

Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki lost 6-4, 6-4 to Lucie Safarova.

MISCELLANEOUS

WBC bans Mexican boxers in Arizona to protest new law

The Mexico-based World Boxing Council will not schedule Mexican fighters for bouts in Arizona to protest what it called the state's new "shameful, inhuman and discriminatory" immigration law.

Arizona recently passed a law that makes it a crime to be in the state illegally.

Also: Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby and Washington Capitals counterpart Alex Ovechkin joined Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks as finalists for the Hart Trophy.

The winner of the NHL's Most Valuable Player award will be announced June 23 in Las Vegas.

Ovechkin is trying to become the first player to win three consecutive Hart Trophies since Wayne Gretzky won eight straight from 1980 to 1987.

Ai Miyazato is trying to spoil Lorena Ochoa's going-away party.

Miyazato shot a 10-under-par 63 to take the first-round lead in the Tres Marias Championship at Moreli, Mexico.

Spanish rookie Azahara Munoz opened with a 65, and the top-ranked Ochoa, who will retire after the tournament, matched Michelle Wie with a 66.