Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward earned the most in the NFL’s performance-based pay program, getting an additional $654,750 out of an overall pot of just under $148 million. Ward, who was not selected in the 2018 draft, received nearly 15%t more than his 2019 salary of the league minimum for second-year players ($570,000). He started all 16 games during Chiefs’ championship season, playing in nearly 95% of the Chiefs’ defensive plays, as well as almost 26% of the special teams plays.

UNDATED (AP) — Facing criticism for coaching his team when he was not feeling well Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg wrote in a social media post he would not have been on the bench if he knew his presence could expose others to illness. Hoiberg wrote on Twitter that he would never do anything that would put his team, family or anyone else in harm’s way. Hoiberg was taken to an Indianapolis hospital after he left Wednesday night’s 89-64 loss to Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament. Hoiberg was diagnosed with influenza-A, which the school characterized as a “common cold” in a news release.

NEW YORK (AP) — In one of the stranger sports developments, Creighton and St. John’s played 20 minutes of hotly contested basketball Thursday afternoon in a mostly empty Madison Square Garden. Then the Big East Conference called off the rest of its postseason tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic. Only a few hundred fans were on hand as part of the restricted attendance policy. By the time some of them were able to grab a drink or return from the restroom, TV broadcasters had announced the rest of the tournament was scrapped. Moments later, word came over the public address system. And fans soon filed for the exits.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The cancellation of the NCAA basketball tournaments shook the nation. But more than two dozen other men’s and women’s championships won’t be contested this winter and spring, either, and that doesn’t include all the sports in Divisions II and III. The NCAA decision to cancel winter and spring sports championships means the College World Series will not be held for the first time in since 1946. The Division I baseball championship is the NCAA’s No. 2 revenue producer and has been held in Omaha every year since 1950. The NCAA said the decision was based on the public health threat posed by the coronavirus.