Sports briefly: Nevada brings in Steve Alford to replace Eric Musselman as coach

Nevada moved quickly to replace one big-name coach with another.

Nevada hired Steve Alford on Thursday, four days after Eric Musselman left for Arkansas.

Nevada athletic director Doug Knuth said landing a coach of Alford's caliber is a testament to the program's support from the university and local community. Alford, the former coach at UCLA, New Mexico, Iowa and Missouri State, will be formally introduced at a Reno news conference Friday.

Musselman built up the Wolf Pack in four seasons, leading Nevada to the NCAA tournament three years in a row before leaving for the Razorbacks.

Alford, fired by UCLA on Dec. 31, returns to the Mountain West Conference, where he had some of his biggest successes. The former Indiana standout player spent six seasons at New Mexico, leading the Lobos to the NCAA tournament three times, including a trip to the third round in 2012. He went 155-52 at New Mexico.

• A Michigan State student who accused university counseling center staff of discouraging her from reporting a 2015 rape by three Spartans men's basketball players said Thursday that she is no longer afraid and wants to encourage other "silent survivors" of sexual assault to tell their stories. Bailey Kowalski, who will graduate in May with a biology degree, held a news conference on the fourth anniversary of the alleged incident.

• LSU and suspended men's coach Will Wade have set a meeting for Friday that will include NCAA compliance officials, Tigers senior associate athletic director Robert Munson said. The meeting will mark the first meaningful face-to-face communication between all parties since LSU suspended Wade for initially refusing to meet with school officials on March 8. … LSU freshman guard JaVonte Smart said he is planning to enter this summer's NBA draft. Smart was the player mentioned by Wade in published transcripts of a leaked FBI wiretap in which Wade discussed an "offer" to a person affiliated with the player.

Harry Kane could miss the rest of the Premier League season after Tottenham said the England captain suffered "significant" ligament damage in his left ankle during its Champions League victory over Manchester City.

Tottenham did not offer a timeline for the striker's return from his fifth ankle injury in three years, but there is only a month left in the Premier League as the team fights for a top-four finish that would guarantee a return to the Champions League next season.

A left ankle injury kept Kane out for six weeks in January and February, although he returned two weeks ahead of schedule.

• The LA Galaxy signed Costa Rican defender Giancarlo Gonzalez, who had been in Italy's Serie A since 2014.

Hockey: Kendall Coyne Schofield scored a tournament-leading fifth goal Thursday to help the United States beat Japan 4-0 and advance to the semifinals of the women's world championship in Espoo, Finland. Cayla Barnes had a goal and an assist and Hilary Knight and Dani Cameranesi also scored for the Americans, who have won the past four world titles.