College Football
BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes hired D.J. Eliot to serve as their defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
The school announced his three-year deal Thursday, which is pending approval by the board of regents.
Eliot steps in for Jim Leavitt after he left for a similar job at Oregon. The 40-year-old Eliot was the defensive coordinator at Kentucky for the last four seasons, helping the Wildcats to the TaxSlayer Bowl last season.
The Buffaloes’ defense allowed 21.7 points a game as they captured the Pac-12 South and went to their first bowl game since 2007.
Cycling
MADRID – Colombian cyclist Nairo Quintana plans to ride in this year’s Giro d’Italia as preparation for the Tour de France.
Quintana’s Movistar team has detailed his schedule for the 2017 season, with a return to Italy’s three-week tour for the first time since 2014.
He won his only previous start at the Giro, three years ago, when he then skipped the Tour de France in July.
Golf
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Phil Mickelson shot a scrambling 4-under 68 on Thursday in the CareerBuilder Challenge, leaving him four strokes back in his return from two sports hernia surgeries.
Tour rookie Dominic Bozzelli shot a 64 on the Stadium Course at PGA West to top the leaderboard.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Henrik Stenson chipped in from 30 yards and had seven more birdies Thursday to open the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship with an 8-under 64 in his first competitive round of 2017.
Showing no rustiness from an offseason of little practice, the fourth-ranked Stenson led by two strokes midway through the first round. Three-time winner Martin Kaymer, Oliver Fisher, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Marc Warren were next.
NBA
NEW YORK – Stephen Curry won a tiebreaker to join Golden State teammate Kevin Durant in the lineup, while LeBron James and Kyrie Irving also gave Cleveland two starters in the NBA All-Star Game.
Curry and Houston’s James Harden beat out Russell Westbrook for the two Western Conference backcourt spots in the new voting system that included players and media for the first time this season. They will join frontcourt choices Durant, Anthony Davis of New Orleans and Kawhi Leonard of San Antonio.
The rest of the East lineup for the Feb. 19 game in New Orleans is Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee and Jimmy Butler of Chicago in the frontcourt and DeMar DeRozan of Toronto in the backcourt. He beat out Boston’s Isaiah Thomas in another tiebreaker.
Skiing
KITZBUEHEL, Austria – Aleksander Aamodt Kilde led the final training session Thursday ahead of the classic World Cup downhill on the Streif course.
The Norwegian timed 1 minute, 56.33 seconds to lead Hannes Reichelt of Austria, the 2014 winner, by 0.02. Norwegian teammate Kjetil Jansrud, who won two years ago, was 0.07 behind in third.
Steven Nyman, who posted the fastest time in Wednesday’s first training, lost his right ski after straddling a gate and slid off course.
Associated Press
