Minnesota Sports Roundup: Spurs manhandle Timberwolves

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SAN ANTONIO - San Antonio's Tony Parker scored 20 points and dished six assists as the Spurs manhandled the Timberwolves 106-88 last night in Texas.

Gary Neal hit a trio of three-pointers and finished with 15 points off the bench while Manu Ginobili added 12 points with five assists. Tim Duncan netted 12 points with nine rebounds, five assists and seven blocks for San Antonio, which has split its last six games following a seven-game winning streak. J.J Barea scored a team-high 15 points with six assists for Minnesota while Nikola Pekovic added 14 points in the loss. Luke Ridnour ended with 13 points and six assists and Andrei Kirilenko put up nine points with 11 boards. The Wolves have dropped three straight contests and will be at Dallas tonight.

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Following the nearly four-month lockout, the Wild opened training camp yesterday. The Wild will open the season on Saturday at home against Colorado. Head coach Mike Yeo says he is relieved to be back on the ice coaching the team instead of watching players-organized workouts from afar. The NHL Players Association voted to ratify the new Collective Bargaining Agreement on Saturday. The owners voted 30-to-0 last Wednesday to ratify the CBA, while 98-percent of players reportedly signed the measure.

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The 48-game NHL season will begin on Saturday with the Minnesota Wild entertaining the Colorado Avalanche. In addition, the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings clash with the Chicago Blackhawks in Los Angeles. Thirteen games will be played Saturday and six more on Sunday, and 26 of the 30 NHL teams are in action. Overall, 720 games will be played over a 99-day period with at least one contest on every day of the season. Team's will play 18 games against division opponents and three games against 10 non-divisional foes. There will be no interconference play during the season. The regular-season ends April 27th with the playoffs starting three days later. The latest the Stanley Cup Finals will end is June 28th. The trade deadline is set for April 3rd and free agency begins July 5th.

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The Houston Aeros continued to slide on Sunday when they lost 2-1 in overtime to the Charlotte Checkers. The Aeros have lost four straight since winning two-of-three to begin the calendar year. Houston is at Chicago this Saturday. The Aeros are the AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild.

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The NHL rights to University of Minnesota defenseman Mark Alt were traded to Philadelphia over the weekend. The Flyers also acquired goalie Brian Boucher from Carolina in exchange for forward Luke Pither. Alt is a junior from St. Paul and attended Cretin-Derham Hall High School. He has three assists in 21 games for top-ranked Minnesota this season.

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The offseason is well underway for the Minnesota Vikings, but for fullback Jerome Felton there's still work to be done. He will be playing in his first NFL Pro Bowl later this month. He says he is honored to be part of the big game and says he used to jokingly tell his friends that he was going to be the best fullback in the NFL. Now, he says, he has a good case to make to them. Felton, who will be a free agent this offseason, says he hopes to be back with Minnesota next season.

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Multiple outlets are reporting that the Philadelphia Eagles have interviewed Brain Billick for their head coaching position. Billick, who has been in the broadcast booth the last few seasons, met with the Eagles last week. He was previously with the Baltimore Ravens from 1999-2007 as their head coach. The 58-year-old compiled an 80-64 record at the helm of the Ravens, including a Super Bowl 35 victory. Billick was an assistant coach for the Minnesota Vikings from 1992-1998, overseeing what was at the time the highest-scoring offense in NFL history in 1998. The 2007 Patriots ended up scoring more points than that 1998 Minnesota unit.

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The Atlanta Falcons have advanced to the NFC Championship Game following a 30-28 win over the Seattle Seahawks in a divisional round matchup at the Georgia Dome. Atlanta will host the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday with the winner advancing to the Super Bowl. The Seahawks rallied from 20-0 and 27-7 deficits. Seattle took a 28-27 lead with Marshawn Lynch's two-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds to play. Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan then connected with Harry Douglas and Tony Gonzalez on 22 and 19 yard receptions, respectively, to get the ball to Seattle's 31-yard line. Matt Bryant followed with a go-ahead, 49-yard field goal with eight seconds left to send the Falcons into the NFC title game for the first time 2004.

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Tom Brady threw for 344 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Patriots over the Texans 41-28 and into the AFC Championship Game. Shane Vereen totaled 124 yards and three touchdowns for New England, which will host the Baltimore Ravens in a rematch of last year's AFC title tilt. Vereen is the older brother of Golden Gopher junior safety Brock Vereen. Matt Schaub tossed for 343 yards, two scores and an interception for Houston. Arian Foster rushed for 90 yards and a TD, and he added 63 yards and a touchdown through the air.

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There are no longer any unbeaten NCAA Division I college basketball teams after this weekend. On Saturday, top-ranked Duke suffered an 84-76 setback at North Carolina State to fall to 15-and-1 on the year. Yesterday, second-ranked Michigan fell on the road to rival Ohio State, 56-53. The Wolverines dropped to 16-1 on the season with the setback and will visit No. 8 Minnesota on Thursday night at Williams Arena.

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The third-ranked University of Minnesota wrestling team completed a weekend Big Ten sweep with a dual meet win at Indiana yesterday, 41-3. Dylan Ness of Bloomington; Logan Storley of Roslyn, South Dakota; and Scott Schiller of West Fargo, North Dakota all registered pins in the win at Indiana. The Golden Gophers beat fifth-ranked Ohio State on Friday night, 25-9.

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The No. 4 ranked St. Cloud State wrestling team won the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division II National Duals over the weekend in Springfield, Illinois. This is the second straight crown for the Huskies, who beat Notre Dame of Ohio 17-15 in the championship meet yesterday. St. Cloud State is now 11-0 this season in dual meets.

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