The NBA will review accusations by former referee Tim Donaghy that were posted online - even though the publisher is blowing the whistle on the book they were to appear in. Random House said it won’t go forward with the tell-all Donaghy wrote in prison. The excerpts include accusations of wagering between officials working games, favoritism toward star players, and desires by the league to extend playoff series. Donaghy also criticizes a number of referees, including Dick Bavetta, Tommy Nunez, and Steve Javie, of misconduct . . . The Charlotte Bobcats picked up the third-year, $1.22 million option on the contract of center Alexis Ajinca . . . Phoenix Mercury All-Star guard Diana Taurasi pleaded guilty to a drunken-driving charge stemming from her July arrest and spent a day in jail after a judge suspended nine days of her sentence.

For the second time in its storied basketball history, Kansas is No. 1 in the Associated Press’s preseason men’s Top 25 poll. The Jayhawks were a runaway choice, receiving 55 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel to easily outdistance Michigan State, which was No. 1 on five ballots. Kansas has all five starters and the top nine scorers back from last season’s team that went 27-8 and reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Texas, Kentucky, and Villanova rounded out the top five, while North Carolina, the unanimous preseason No. 1 last season, was sixth. Connecticut checked in at No. 12. Boston College received just six votes . . . US District Judge Charles Simpson denied prosecutors’ request for a psychiatric evaluation of the woman accused in a plot to extort $10 million from Louisville coach Rick Pitino. Simpson ruled there was no “reasonable cause’’ to question Karen Cunagin Sypher’s competency . . . UConn will host games in the first two rounds of the 2011 NCAA women’s tournament.

Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher will start 2006 Offensive Rookie of the Year Vince Young at quarterback Sunday against Jacksonville, hoping to change the luck of the team that went 0-6 behind veteran Kerry Collins . . . The New Orleans Saints placed fullback Heath Evans on injured reserve, said coach Sean Payton, because of a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear that occurred in last Sunday’s comeback victory in Miami. Evans, a former Patriot, had surgery yesterday and the Saints quickly signed fullback Kyle Eckel, who spent parts of the 2007 and 2008 seasons with New England . . . New York Giants backup running back Ahmad Bradshaw will continue to play this season despite having a cracked bone on his right foot.

Serena Williams became the first player to clinch a spot in the semifinals of the WTA Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, defeating Elena Dementieva, 6-2, 6-4. Her sister Venus, the defending champion, stayed alive by beating Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 . . . Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga led four Frenchmen into the Lyon Grand Prix quarterfinals by defeating Olivier Rochus, 6-3, 6-2. Third-seeded Ivan Ljubicic was the only non-French winner, downing Nicolas Kiefer, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Tsonga will face Arnaud Clement, who beat seventh-seeded Benjamin Becker, 6-4, 6-3. Marc Gicquel upset Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4, 6-0. Michael Llodra ousted fourth-seeded Juan Monaco, 6-3, 6-4.

Evgeni Malkin, the NHL’s leading scorer last season, will be lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins for 2-3 weeks because of a strained right shoulder. The Russian star would miss seven games if he is out two weeks and 10 games if he is out three . . . The expansion Seattle Sounders debuted in the MLS playoffs with a 0-0 draw against visiting Houston in the first match of a home-and-home, aggregate-goals set in the Western Conference semifinals . . . D.C. United goalie Josh Wicks is expected to be sidelined 4-6 months after having surgery on his left shoulder. . . Mexican star Cuauhtemoc Blanco will leave the Chicago Fire after the season and return home to rejoin second-division Veracruz . . . NASCAR placed AJ Allmendinger, a driver for Richard Petty Motorsports, on probation after his arrest in Mooresville, N.C., for drunken driving.