Dwight Howard is open to playing for the Bulls

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard told the Chicago Tribune that the Bulls are another potential destination for him, in addition to the four teams he has listed as preferred landing spots.

Howard, who has told the Magic that his preferred teams to be traded to are the Lakers, Clippers, New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks, said playing with reigning NBA most valuable player Derrick Rose in Chicago would be a draw.

“If I could play with Derrick right now and God wanted that to happen, it will happen,” Howard said. “It has nothing to do with me not wanting to play with Derrick Rose. I love him. That’s my brother.”

Seen as a contender in the Eastern Conference, the Magic has lost four in a row to fall to 12-9. Orlando lost, 74-69, to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.

ETC.

Long Beach State to play Creighton

Long Beach State will play Creighton on Feb. 18 in Omaha in one of the marquee college basketball matchups in this year’s Sears BracketBusters.

The annual two-day event features 13 games that will be nationally televised on ESPN’s family of stations. The Long Beach-Creighton game is the final game and will be played at 7 p.m. PST and broadcast on ESPN2.

Long Beach is 16-6 and has won nine in a row and 12 of its last 13 games. Creighton has won 10 straight to improve to 20-2 and is ranked No. 13 by the Associated Press.

Loyola Marymount (13-9) plays host to Valparaiso (15-8) in a BracketBuster game at 6 p.m. on Feb. 17 that will be broadcast on ESPNU.

—Mike Hiserman

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Zach Banner, a 6-foot-8, 305-pound offensive tackle from Washington state, announced that he would attend USC.

Banner, a senior at Lakes High in Lakewood, Wash., chose USC over Oklahoma and Washington. He is expected to sign with the Trojans on Wednesday, the first day that high school players can sign national letters of intent.

—Gary Klein

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Rutgers has turned to assistant Kyle Flood to replace Greg Schiano as the team’s head football coach, hours after Florida International’s Mario Cristobal passed on a chance to take over the Scarlet Knights.

A person with knowledge of the decision told the Associated Press that Flood had accepted an offer to become Rutgers’ next coach.

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Texas Rangers Manager Ron Washington signed a two-year contract extension after leading the team to the World Series for the second straight season.

The deal puts Washington under contract through the 2014 season.

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The Detroit Tigers’ Victor Martinez had knee surgery and will need a second operation, another indication he is likely to miss the entire 2012 season.

Martinez had microfracture surgery Friday to repair the medial and lateral meniscus in his left knee.

Martinez is projected to have anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery on the same knee in six to eight weeks, the procedure that was previously expected.

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Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson remains hospitalized in Florida because of a shoulder injury following a fall from a stage.

Robinson fractured his scapula in the fall, which occurred Friday night during a player reception in Hollywood, Fla., before the annual Joe DiMaggio Legends Game.

The 74-year-old Robinson did not receive a head injury, his representative, Diane Hock, said Monday.