Griz center Darko Milicic left the game with 6:26 remaining in the first quarter after suffering a sprained left ankle.

The team announced that he wouldn’t return to the game. X-rays were negative.

But Milicic couldn’t seem to put pressure on the ankle. He actually needed a wheel chair to leave reach the locker room after landing awkwardly on Portland center Joel Pryzbilla’s foot.

Monday night was Milicic’s second appearance after missing seven straight games due to a sprained left thumb.

THE BIG STORY

Tommy Tuberville accepted a bid to the Chick-fil-A Bowl Sunday, and then tap-danced around questions that sought to reveal whether he would be around to coach in it.

Auburn (8-4) will play Clemson (9-3) Dec. 31 at 6:30 p.m. in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, the bowl announced Sunday.

But fans who hoped that Tuberville would use the Sunday night teleconference to clear up rumors and address his uncertain status were sorely disappointed.

Reporters tried, but no definitive statement was forthcoming.

Athletic Director Jay Jacobs, who offered a two-year contract extension to Tuberville on Friday, handled the situation as nimbly as he could.

“It’s nice to have a coach that is wanted,” Jacobs said. “We have 15 head coaches. I wish they were all wanted as much as Tommy.

“There’s never been any doubt in my mind that Tommy is going to be our head coach for a long time.”

After it became clear Tuberville was not going to chime in, a reporter pressed.

“Tommy, do you concur?”

“I concur,” Tuberville said. Then he joked, “How do you spell that?”

That was it.

When the subject was brought up again, Tuberville said, “Let’s talk about the Chick-fil-A Bowl.”

Jacobs hastily added, “Yeah, I’m for that, too.”

Auburn’s tentative schedule calls for the Tigers to begin bowl practice Dec. 13. They’ll work for about a week, break for Christmas and then arrive on Atlanta on either Dec. 25 or Dec. 26.

Tuberville used humor to deflect questions about whether he would be there

“(I’ll be there), unless you want to coach ‘em,” he told one reporter.

Both Jacobs and Tuberville said they had not been contacted by Arkansas, repeating denials issued Thursday, when several Arkansas media outlets reported that Tuberville was on the verge of becoming the Razorbacks new coach.

Contract negotiations failed to produce a resolution last week. Tuberville is now in New York in advance of Tuesday’s National Football Foundation awards dinner. Jacobs is expected to join him there. Auburn President Jay Gogue is also in New York on unrelated business.

Around the rest of the league:
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Well, with no more talk of the Los Angeles Lakers trading Kobe Bryant to the Chicago Bulls, Chicago Tribune NBA writer Sam Smith has resorted back to last year’s season-long quest to convince Bulls’ fans why it makes sense for the Grizzlies to trade Pau Gasol to Chicago.

It’s true last year that then-team president Jerry West explored the trade possibilities once Gasol requested to owner Michael Heisley that he wanted to be traded to a winning team. With Gasol clearly disgruntled, it made sense for West to see what he could get for the former All-Star. But the Bulls were unwilling to part with the players West wanted.

A lot has happened since then, though, which is why Smith’s latest dreaming makes no sense. He points out how Gasol’s numbers are down and that he is having a hard time fitting into new coach Marc Iavaroni’s system. True enough, Gasol’s numbers are down, but there’s a reason for it. Instead of running nearly every play through Gasol, as was the case in the past, Iavaroni’s quick-tempo has the ball moving a lot more, making shots available to a lot more players which is why the Grizzlies have four players averaging in double figures (before Saturday’s game against Minnesota there were six in double figures).

Smith concluded his latest proposal to land Gasol by noting that Grizzlies rookie guard Juan Carlos Navarro, Gasol’s best friend from Spain, would be available for the Bulls to pick up after the season when his one-year deal with the Grizzlies is up. Aside from Navarro’s skills as a player, one of the reasons Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace traded a first round draft pick to Washington for his draft rights, then spent two weeks negotiating a buyout with FC Barcelona and FIBA, was to please Gasol. So what sense would it make to bring Navarro here, only to trade Gasol a couple of months later? On top of that, Navarro will be a restricted free agent after this season, meaning the Grizzlies will have the right match any team’s offer. As long as Navarro keeps shooting like he’s been shooting, which is better than 40 percent from 3-point range, you can be assured he’ll be in a Grizzly uniform next season.

And so will Pau Gasol.