BRIEFLY\Illinois hires Kruger away from Florida.

Byline: Daily News Wires

Lon Kruger, who coached Florida's basketball team to the NCAA tournament's Final Four in 1994, accepted the job at Illinois on Thursday.

"We'll play extremely hard. We'll play unselfishly. We'll play extremely well together," Kruger said. "We'll represent the University of Illinois in a first-class way both on and off the basketball floor, and we'll have fun doing it."

Illinois athletic director Ron Guenther gave Kruger a five-year contract to replace Lou Henson, who retired this year after a 422-223 record in 21 seasons.

Golden State's Rony Seikaly, who tore a tendon in his left thumb against Houston, was placed on the injured list.

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf says he has received death threats since he refused to stand during the national anthem, and extra security guards protected him Wednesday night when the Denver Nuggets played the Nets.

GOLF

Jim Furyk, his game sizzling in the early-morning frost, shot a 6-under-par 66 for one-stroke lead after the opening round of the $1.2 million Freeport-McDermott Classic in New Orleans.

Barb Mucha, making an 80-foot shot for an eagle on her first hole, had a bogey-free opening round of 5-under-par 68 to share the lead with late-charging Marianne Morris in the Standard Register Ping in Phoenix.

TENNIS

Magnus Gustafsson, his opponent rattled by the ringing of cellular phones in the stadium, defeated Swedish compatriot Anders Jarryd 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of the $325,000 St. Petersburg Open in Russia.

Jennifer Capriati's tennis comeback now includes a comeback. Playing in her native South Florida for the first time in three years, Capriati rallied to beat Lea Ghirardi-Rubbi 7-5, 6-1 in the opening round of the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla.

Capriati fell behind 0-5, then won the next 11 games.

WINTER SPORTS

Chad Fleischer, the hottest skier on the U.S. men's team, survived a near fall midway through his run and won the downhill in the U.S. Alpine Championships in Carrabassett Valley, Maine.

BASEBALL

Tim Raines was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a chip fracture of his left thumb, assuring the New York Yankees that their leadoff hitter and left fielder would miss opening day.

Houston Astros relief pitcher John Hudek has a tear in a muscle that runs from his neck to his first rib and will be out of action indefinitely. The injury was disclosed after Hudek, a former All-Star who missed much of last season with another injury, underwent an MRI test.

Don Mattingly said he will not play this season, but the former New York Yankees first baseman has not ruled out a return to baseball. "I know I still have gas left," he said. "I'm only 34 years old."

FOOTBALL

Grand jury testimony on a March 4 drug bust at an Irving, Tex., hotel opened Thursday without Dallas Cowboys All-Pro receiver Michael Irvin and the woman arrested on charges of cocaine and marijuana possession.

Irving police said Irvin was one of four people in the hotel room when they arrested 22-year-old Angela Renee Beck, who told officers that the drugs and drug paraphernalia belonged to her.

The other two people present, former Cowboys tight end Alfredo Roberts and Jasmine Jennifer Nabwangu, appeared at the Frank Crowley Criminal Courts Building in Dallas to testify. They, along with Irvin, are considered witnesses, police said.

The Cincinnati Bengals signed cornerback Jimmy Spencer to a two-year deal worth $1.4 million. Spencer, a 26-year-old unrestricted free agent, is entering his fifth NFL season. He was a starter the past two years for New Orleans and led the Saints with four interceptions last season.

For the second straight day, New England signed a defensive tackle. It landed 6-foot-2-inch, 285-pound Mark Wheeler, a free agent who started 46 of the 55 games for which he was active with Tampa Bay the past four years.

The Buffalo Bills signed former Iowa State linebacker Marc Lillibridge to a free-agent contract. He was waived by the Philadelphia Eagles in training camp last season and was not selected in the NFL draft.

OLYMPICS

The London Daily Telegraph reported that Jon Clark, an Englishman appointed as U.S. field hockey coach for this summer's Atlanta Games, claimed on his resume that he won a bronze medal with the British team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Clark also said he had played 147 times for the English and British national teams.

But the Telegraph said Clark wasn't on Britain's 1984 Olympic team. And his record of team appearances is restricted to 14 indoors and just one outdoors. . . .

Track and field's world governing body is set to change the Atlanta Olympic schedule to afford Michael Johnson a shot at an historic sprint double and give men's marathoners a cooler starting time. The International Amateur Athletic Federation meets this weekend in Cape Town, South Africa.

ETC.

A high school wrestler who knocked a referee unconscious with a head butt in January will be charged with fourth-degree assault, a prosecutor in Colville, Wash., said.

Chad Hildebrandt, a 17-year-old senior from Colville High, will be prosecuted as a juvenile, Stevens County deputy prosecutor Gina Tveit said.

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PHOTO

Photo ABDUL-RAUF Denver player says he's received death threats when he refused to stand for national anthem issue.