Minnesota Sports Roundup: Vikings open preseason tonight at San Francisco

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SAN FRANCISCO -- The Vikings open the preseason at San Francisco tonight(8:00).

They'll be without star running back Adrian Peterson, who continues to recover from knee surgery. Peterson hopes to start practicing next week. Toby Gerhart is looking to fill the void created by Peterson's absence. The Vikings will try to erase the memory of last year's 3-and-13 showing.

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The Twins open a three-game series against Tampa Bay tonight at Target Field. Former Gopher Cole DeVries starts for the Twins and righthander Jeremy Hellickson goes for the Rays. The Twins say second baseman Tsuyohi Nishioka will be in uniform tonight, in part because Trevor Plouffe remains on the DL with a bruised thumb. Nishioka has been error-prone in the field and has struggled at the plate in his first three games of the season. Tonight's game starts at 7:10.

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The U.S. women's volleyball team is set to go for the gold Saturday against Brazil. Former Gopher star Lindsey Berg is still day-to-day after a strained left Achilles kept her out of action Tuesday, but she played Thursday in the team's win over South Korea. The team is looking for its first gold medal in Olympic play. The team's coach, Hugh McCutheon takes over the Gopher volleyball program following the Olympics.

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The U.S. women's Olympic basketball team beat Australia 83-76 in the semifinals Thursday in London. The Americans trailed at halftime before outscoring the Aussies 43-26 in the second half. Lynx forward Maya Moore had nine points, Seimone Augustus scored eight and Lindsey Whalen added six in the low-scoring game. Team USA goes for its fifth straight gold medal on Saturday.

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The U.S. men's basketball team faces Argentina today in the semifinals of the London Olympics. Team USA advanced with a 119-86 quarterfinal win over Australia on Wednesday night. Timberwolves forward Kevin Love had ten points and 11 rebounds for the Americans. The U-S beat the Argentines in the final pool play game. The gold and bronze medal games are scheduled for Sunday.

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