Minnesota Sports Roundup: Gophers, Wolves both fall Wednesday

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MINNEAPOLIS - The Brooklyn Nets improved to 12-2 under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo as they beat Minnesota 91-83 last night at the Target Center.

Nets center Brook Lopez was one of the heros with 22 points and seven rebounds. Andrei Kiriklenko led the way to the Wolves, chipping in 15 points, six rebounds and five assists. The loss drops the T-Wolves to 17-22, including a 3-9 mark in just the month of January. They next take to the road for a pair starting Friday night in Washington.

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The Timberwolves have been ranked the 26th most valuable NBA franchise by Forbes. The team is worth an estimated $364-million, which is up 34-percent from last year. The average NBA team is worth $509-million-dollars, a 30-percent jump from last season The Knicks are the most valuable franchise at $1.1-billion-dollars.

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It was more of the same for the 12th ranked University of Minnesota men's basketball team on Wednesday night as they go down to the unranked Northwestern Wildcats 55-48 in Evanston, Ill. Forward Trevor Mbakwe lead the Gophers with 14 points and 16 rebounds but that was about it for a Minnesota team that will drop it's third straight game after previously losing to both Indiana and Michigan. Andre Hollins was just 2 for 9 shooting in the game with six points and seven turnovers. Meanwhile, Austin Hollins scored six points and fouled out with 11:47 still to go in the contest. Up next, a Saturday trip to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers.

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The University of Minnesota women's basketball team will look to bounce back from Sunday's home loss to Nebraska with a trip to the Bryce Jordan Center tonight to take on the #8-ranked Penn State Lady Lions. It'll be the fourth time in six games that the Gophers will be away from the U of M campus to play a game. Minnesota is looking to improve upon their 13-6 season record while Penn State has won 15 of 17 this season and are a perfect 5-0 in the Big Ten this season. Tip is set for 5:30 tonight.

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The Minnesota Wild completed a three game homestand to open up the 48 game schedule with a 3-1 loss on Tuesday night to Nashville. Now the Wild are getting ready for their first road trip of the season with a Friday night trip to Detroit followed by a Sunday game in St. Louis. Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon was injured in the loss to the Predators and was held out of practice on Wednesday but head coach Mike Yeo said that was just precautionary and Spurgeon should be ready to go against the Red Wings.

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The Minnesota Wild announced yesterday that the start time for their Sunday at St. Louis has been changed to 7 p.m. Origionally the game was slated to get underway at 5 p.m. but puck drop changed to accomodate the NBC Sports Network who'll broadcast the game nationally.

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Amanda Kessel of the University of Minnesota Gopher women's hockey team was named the WCHA offensive player of the week. The junior forward from Madison, Wisconsin helped the unbeaten and top ranked Gophers sweep Minnesota State over the weekend. Kessel notched three goals and four assits in the two game series played in Mankato. She also became just the 24th player in NCAA history to surpass the 200 career-point milestone. This marks the fourth time this season that Kessel has been awarded the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week.

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