In Brief

COLLEGE ATHLETICS

Duke, Butler basketball to meet again on Dec. 4

Duke and Butler will meet again next season, eight months after their classic national championship basketball game.

The two schools will play Dec. 4 in a regular-season game at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. The Blue Devils won their fourth NCAA title in Indianapolis on April 5 by beating the fan-favorite Bulldogs 61-59, as Gordon Hayward's potential winning shot from halfcourt bounced off the rim.

Also: Hofstra basketball coach Tim Welsh resigned three days after he was charged with drunken driving in Levittown, N.Y.

Welsh was hired in March and suspended by Hofstra on Friday. The school accepted the resignation "in the best interests of the university and of the men's basketball program."

Robert Morris basketball coach Mike Rice has agreed to become the coach at Rutgers, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

Rice had signed a one-year contract extension with Robert Morris last month.

Northeastern basketball coach Bill Coen signed a multiyear contract extension after leading the Huskies to the postseason in each of the past two years.

The length of the extension was not announced.

Iowa State reserve guard Charles Boozer is leaving the team to seek treatment for unspecified problems.

Boozer was arrested over the weekend after a woman told police he slapped and kicked her. He was charged with simple assault, a misdemeanor, in Ames.

Louisiana State football coach Les Miles suspended center T-Bob Hebert indefinitely because of a drunken driving arrest over the weekend.

Miles said Hebert will not take part in any football-related activities until he fulfills unspecified obligations to the team. Hebert was leaving an on-campus event Saturday morning when he hit a parked car.

FedEx is ending its sponsorship of the Orange Bowl after two decades.

FedEx had been the bowl's title sponsor since the 1990 game, making it the longest continuous sponsor of any bowl game.

MISCELLANEOUS

Maidana cites bad back for not fighting Bradley

Marcos Maidana pulled out of a highly anticipated 140-pound bout with WBO champion Timothy Bradley, citing a back injury.

Maidana previously postponed the fight from June 19 to July 17 before pulling out Monday, Bradley's infuriated promoters said.

Maidana and Bradley were due to appear at a news conference today to announce the fight in the Palm Springs, Calif., area.

Also: One day after veteran Lorena Ochoa retired, there's a new No. 1 in women's golf.

Jiyai Shin of South Korea moved to the top of the women's world ranking Monday after winning on the Japan LPGA Tour. The victory gave her an average of 9.29 points, narrowly ahead of Ochoa at 9.20.

Ochoa had been No. 1 for 158 weeks since overtaking Annika Sorenstam in April 2007.

A deal to sell the troubled Phoenix Coyotes to a group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf would be beneficial to the franchise and the league, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.

"It will be great for this league and that franchise if Jerry is able, with his partners, to consummate that transaction," Bettman said before Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals between Vancouver and Chicago.

Reinsdorf already owns the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox.