Minnesota Sports Briefs: Gophers take on Virginia Tech tonight sans Mbakwe

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota men's basketball team hosts Virginia Tech at Williams Arena this evening. The contest is part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

The Golden Gophers will be playing for the first time without leading scorer and rebounder Trevor Mbakwe who is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Tonight's tilt tips of at 8:15 p.m.

Here is the University of Minnesota 2011-12 men's basketball schedule:

Tuesday, November 1st - Minnesota 71, Bemidji State 58

Monday, November 7th - Minnesota 72, Augustana 69

Friday, November 11th - Minnesota 70, Bucknell 58

Monday, November 15th - Minnesota 71, South Dakota State 55

Thursday, November 17th - Minnesota 67, Fairfield 57

Monday, November 21st - Minnesota 85, Mt. St. Mary's 56

Thursday, November 24th - Minnesota 86, DePaul 85

Friday, November 25th - Minnesota 76, Indiana State 69

Sunday, November 27th - Dayton 86, Minnesota 70

Wednesday, November 30th - vs. Virginia Tech, 8:15pm

Saturday, December 3rd - vs. Southern California, 1:15pm

Tuesday, December 6th - vs. Appalachian State, 7pm

Saturday, December 10th - vs. St. Peters, noon

Tuesday, December 13th - vs. Central Michigan, 8pm

Thursday, December 22nd - vs. North Dakota State, 7pm

Tuesday, December 27th - at Illinois, 6:30pm

Sunday, January 1st - at Michigan, 3pm

Wednesday, January 4th - vs. Iowa, 8pm

Sunday, January 8th - vs. Purdue, 5pm

Thursday, January 12th - at Indiana, 7pm

Sunday, January 15th - at Penn State, 3pm

Sunday, January 22nd - vs. Northwestern, 3pm

Wednesday, January 25th - at Michigan State, 7:30pm

Saturday, January 28th - vs. Illinois, 7pm

Wednesday, February 1st - at Iowa, 7:30pm

Sunday, February 5th - at Nebraska, noon

Thursday, February 9th - vs. Wisconsin, time TBD

Tuesday, February 14th - vs. Ohio State, time TBD

Saturday, February 18th - at Northwestern, 6pm

Wednesday, February 22nd - vs. Michigan State, 7:30pm

Saturday or Sunday, February 25/26 - vs. Indiana, time/day TBD

Tuesday, February 28th - at Wisconsin, 7pm

Saturday, March 3rd - vs. Nebraska, 11:30am

March 8-11 - Big Ten Tournament, Indianapolis

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University of Minnesota senior safety Kim Royston of Minneapolis has been named the Big Ten Conference's Defensive Player of the Week. The Cretin-Derham Hall product recorded 13 tackles in the Gophers 27-7 win over Illinois on Saturday. The sixth-year senior also notched his first sack of the season on the final defensive play of his college career. The double digit tackle game was the eighth of the season for Royston.

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The UMD Bulldogs host the Wayne State Warriors this Saturday in the third round of the NCAA Division II football championships. The Bulldogs are the defending champs, while this is the first time the Warriors have advanced to the Regional Finals. In NCAA Division III, St. Thomas plays St. John Fisher in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

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The "New York Times" reports the NBA will partially lift the lockout on Thursday. Players will reportedly be allowed to use team facilities and work with trainers on voluntary conditioning or strength training. However, coaches and players are not permitted to interact. Additionally, team executives and agents will be allowed to discuss free agent players but cannot make deals until the NBA officially reopens, which several reports suggest will officially happen on December 9th. The Timberwolves were to have been playing a game tonight in Sacramento, but the labor stoppage has forced all games to be missed up to this point of the calendar.

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The WCHA has named its Players of the Week in men's hockey. North Dakota sophomore forward Brock Nelson of Warroad and Colorado College forward Rylan Schwarz of Wilcox, Saskatchewan are the Offensive Players of the Week. Wisconsin defenseman Justin Schultz of West Kelowna, British Columbia is the Defensive Player of the Week. And, Denver goaltender Juho Olkinuora of Helsinki, Finland is the league's Rookie of the Week.

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The University of Minnesota women's hockey team completed a two-game sweep at number-nine Harvard with a 7-3 victory on Sunday. Kelly Terry had her first career hat trick for the second-ranked Golden Gophers and Emily West added a goal and three assists. Minnesota is now five-and-one against teams ranked in the top ten this season. The Gophers travel to North Dakota this weekend.

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The Minnesota Wild will be in Edmonton to face the Oilers tonight in the fourth meeting between the two teams this season. Minnesota has claimed two of the first three matchups on the year. Minnesota got back in the win column with a 3-1 victory over the Lightning on Monday. The Wild snapped a two-game skid and improved to 13-7-3 with the win. Edmonton has dropped two in a row. The puck drops at 8:30 tonight.

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Warroad's T.J. Oshie scored a goal for St. Louis to help the Blues past Washington 2-1 last night in the nation's capital. Former Golden Gopher player Cade Fairchild of Duluth made his NHL debut in the game, playing ten minutes and taking one shot. St. Louis has won four straight games.

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The Kansas City Royals have agreed to a one-year contract with former Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton. The deal is believed to be worth $4-million, pending a physical that is expected to take place Wednesday. Broxton will work as a setup man for closer Joakim Soria. An All-Star in 2009 and 2010, Broxton pitched in just 14 games last season because of an elbow injury that eventually required surgery. There were rumblings that the Twins were interested in Broxton, but the division rival Royals ended up with the right-hander.

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Tickets for the first-ever concert at Target Field go on sale to the general public this weekend. Concert-goers can buy tickets for the July 8th Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw 'Brothers of the Sun' Tour beginning at 10am Saturday morning. Tickets can be purchased exclusively online at twinsbaseball-dot-com. Due to the anticipated high demand, there will be a limit of four tickets per order.

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