COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOTES

Former Indiana player Neil Reed said he told a university official three years ago that Coach Bob Knight choked him, CNN/Sports Illustrated reported Friday.

Indiana University on Thursday issued a statement that quoted associate athletic director Steve Downing, who originally investigated Reed’s accusation.

Downing said he questioned Knight and Reed, among others, about what happened at the team practice in 1997.

“Neil told me, point blank, that Bob Knight never choked him,” Downing said in the statement.

CNN/SI reported Friday that Reed recalled the conversation differently.

“Downing had heard that Coach Knight had hit me. . . . And he sat down and I sat down and he said, ‘I heard that Coach Knight hit you,’ ” Reed said. “And I kind of laughed and said, ‘He choked me but he didn’t hit me.’ And Downing kind of dropped his head.”

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Former Texas men’s assistant coach Eddie Oran filed suit against his former boss, coach Tom Penders, alleging libel and slander.

The suit alleges Penders made libelous and slanderous remarks against Oran in the aftermath of the release of a player’s grades in 1998 to a local radio station, according to papers filed in Travis County state district court.

Oran seeks unspecified damages for loss of income, loss of his employment at Texas, personal humiliation and mental anguish and suffering, according to a report in today’s editions of the Austin American-Statesman.

In 1998, the grades of former Texas player Luke Axtell were released to KVET-AM in violation of the Buckley Amendment, which protects a student’s constitutional right to privacy.

Axtell, who now attends Kansas, filed suit against Capstar Texas Limited Partnership, the parent company of KVET-AM. In statements taken under oath in the Axtell suit, Oran said he took the blame for the release of the grades to protect Penders.

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Life University of Georgia pulled away in the second half and defeated The Master’s, 79-68, in a quarterfinal game of the NAIA Division I men’s tournament at Tulsa, Okla.

Senior guard Joey Penberthy led The Master’s with 20 points. Senior forward Reggie McFerren scored 13 points and NAIA leading rebounder Joclin Julmist pulled down 14.

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Biola earned a trip to the NAIA Division I semifinals with an 82-71 upset victory over second-seeded Lipscomb University of Tennessee, also at Tulsa.

Senior forward Jacque Collins led a balanced Eagle attack with 18 points. Biola (28-5) faces Georgetown of Kentucky in today’s semifinals.