Sports briefs 3/25/05

Baseball

* Barry Bonds returned to the San Francisco Bay area on Thursday to continue rehabilitating his surgically repaired right knee because the Giants believe SBC Park is better suited for the slugger than the team's spring complex.

The Giants say they have no timetable for Bonds' return. The seven-time NL MVP said Tuesday he could miss half or all this season while recovering from the surgery.

Basketball

* Utah forward Andrei Kirilenko broke his left wrist Thursday night in a collision with Washington's Kwame Brown, ending his season.

Kirilenko, Utah's leading active scorer at 16 points per game, drove to the basket and crashed into Brown just 3:02 into the game. Kirilenko's feet went out from under him and he put his hands down to break his fall, landing hard on his tailbone and left wrist.

Colleges

* Jenni Lingor scored 19 points and Southwest Missouri State withstood a Texas A&M comeback bid to beat the Aggies 62-60 Thursday in the quarterfinals of the women's NIT.

Southwest Missouri State (23-8) led 37-21 at halftime, but Charlette Castile's 14 second-half points helped the Aggies come back.

Texas A&M (16-15) took the lead at 54-53 with 7:17 left on a free throw by Tamea Scales and pushed the lead to 58-55 on two free throws by Erica Roy.

But Lingor hit a 3-pointer and two free throws and the Lady Bears regained the lead at 60-58 with 2:38 left. The Aggies then tied the game at 60 on a basket by Roy. Two free throws by K.C. Cowgill gave the Lady Bears their final lead at 62-60 with 1:51 left.

Kari Koch had 18 points for Southwest Missouri State and Cowgill added 13.

The Lady Bears will play Iowa on Monday in Springfield in the semifinals of the women's NIT.

* A University of Cincinnati assistant has been suspended after he was charged with driving under the influence, less than a year after the head coach was suspended for a drunk driving conviction, the university said Thursday.

Keith LeGree will remain on suspension until the university completes an investigation. He will continue to receive his salary but will forfeit other benefits and will not be allowed to help coach the team.

LeGree has completed his fifth season on the UC coaching staff. He was a point guard on the 1994-95 and 1995-96 Bearcat teams.