LITTLE ROCK — BASKETBALL Turkoglu banned 20 games

Orlando Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu was suspended 20 games by the NBA on Wednesday after testing positive for steroids. The NBA said Turkoglu tested positive for methenolone, an anabolic steroid. He began serving the suspension Wednesday night when the Magic hosted the Atlanta Hawks. Turkoglu took full responsibility for the positive test and apologized to the Magic organization, fans and fellow teammates. He said he took medication from a trainer in Turkey last summer to help him recover from a shoulder injury and mistakenly neglected to check it against the NBA’s list of banned substances. “As a player, this is the worst situation that you want to be in,” Turkoglu said. “I’m just sorry to put the organization in this situation. ... I should have double-checked and researched and shouldn’t be in this situation.” He is the eighth player suspendedfor performance-enhancing drugs under the NBA’s drug testing policy. He is the second Magic player to be suspended under the policy in four years. Former Magic forward Rashard Lewis was suspended 10 games in 2009 after testing positive for an elevated testosterone level.

TENNIS Federer cruises in Rotterdam

Defending champion Roger Federer cruised into the second round of the ABN AMRO tournament on Wednesday in Rotterdam, Netherlands, beating Grega Zemlja 6-3, 6-1. Federer, a two-time winner at the indoor hard court tournament, had taken a two-week break after losing a five-set semifinal to Andy Murray at the Australian Open. In Wednesday’s final match, Grigor Dimitrov beat Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-3 in the second round. Earlier, Gilles Simon beat Italian qualifier Matteo Viola 6-3, 6-1 to earn a spot in the quarterfinals, and fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau joined him after a 6-1,6-3 victory over Victor Hanescu.

Fresh off winning a second consecutive Australian Open, topranked Victoria Azarenka breezed into the third round of the Qatar Open in Doha with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Romina Oprandi. The defending champion was joined by fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki. Radwanska beat Australian qualifier Anastasia Rodionova 6-3, 6-2, and Wozniacki downed Sorana Cirstea of Romania 7-6 (7), 6-0. American Sloane Stephens, who upset Serena Williams in the Australian Open quarterfinals, lost to Klara Zakopalova 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).

Argentina’s David Nalbandian beat Chilean qualifier Jorge Aguilar 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in a difficult firstround match at the Brazil Open in Sao Paulo. Nalbandian had 11 aces and broke serve four times to beat Aguilar in 2 hours, 12 minutes at the indoor clay-court tournament. Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos retired because of nausea and fatigue while trailing Paul Capdeville of Chile 7-6 (5), 0-6, 0-3.

BASEBALL

Southern Cal fires coach

Southern California has fired baseball coach Frank Cruz for violating NCAA rules regarding limits on practice time and organized team activities. Trojans Athletic Director Pat Haden announced Wednesday that Cruz has been dismissed and that the school has self-imposed areduction in the number of practice hours for the baseball team this season and next. USC has alerted the NCAA and Pacific-12 Conference of the infraction and the universityimposed actions. Cruz was 48-63 in two seasons with the Trojans. Associate head coach Dan Hubbs, a former Trojans pitcher in his second season as a coach with USC, has been promoted to head coach.

Felix Hernandez has signed a seven-year contract with the Seattle Mariners that makes him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball. During a news conference Wednesday, Hernandez officially signed his new deal that will be worth $175 million. The contract covers the final two years of his current deal that was scheduled to run through the 2014 season and adds five additional years through the 2019 season.

FOOTBALL

Giants sign kicker Buehler

Former Dallas Cowboys placekicker David Buehler has signed with the New York Giants. The team announced the move Wednesday. Lawrence Tynes is entering the final year of his contract with New York, and Buehler will provide some competition in training camp. Buehler played for the Cowboys in 2009-2011, handling kickoff duties most of the time. He led the NFL in 2009 with 29 touchbacks. Buehler made 24 of 32 field-goal attempts and 42 extra points in 2010. He played in four games in 2011 and was placed on injured reserve Nov. 10 with a torn adductor muscle.

Former Chicago Bears receiver Johnny Knox said he’s giving up football. The Bears terminated Knox’s contract Tuesday after he missed this past season recovering from a back injury. Knox told the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday that his career is over and he’s “moving on and going forward.” Knox said he’s not going to able to perform with the same ability he used to have. Knox had 133 receptions for 2,214 yards in 2009-2011 and was on special teams with 55 kickoff returns for 1,506 yards.

FOOTBALL

Frazier’s deal with Vikings through 2014

MINNEAPOLIS - After leading the Minnesota Vikingsto a surprising playoff berth last season, Leslie Frazier has reached an agreement on a contract through 2014.

The Vikings exercised the fourth-year option on his contract Wednesday, helping Frazier avoid what would have been a lame-duck season in 2013 while also giving the teamsome flexibility going forward.

“Coach Frazier has done a remarkable job in building a strong foundation for the Minnesota Vikings and creating a very positive future,” Vikings owner Mark Wilf said in a statement issued by the team. “We value his leadership and look forward to working with him for many years to come.”

Frazier was entering the final year of his deal, and talks of an extension started to become an issue as the Vikings mounted a stunning December run to the playoffs. Stuck at 6-6 and withoutinjured receiver Percy Harvin, the Vikings rode Adrian Peterson to four consecutive victories, including a thriller over Green Bay in the regular-season finale to thrust them into the postseason. They lost to the Packers the next week in the wild-card round.

General Manager Rick Spielman has spoken in glowing terms about the working relationship hehas shared with Frazier since taking over the general manager duties last year.

“Leslie’s been doing an outstanding job,” Spielman said earlier this season. “Knowing the situation that we were going to have a lot of new faces on this roster, I think the coaching staff has done an outstanding job. We can bring in guys that are talented, but it’s our coaches who should get the credit for developing these guys. And our coaches should get the credit for playing these guys and letting them grow into the positions as they grow.”

Sports, Pages 20 on 02/14/2013