Minnesota Sports Roundup: Frazier to coach Vikes at least through next year

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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - The Minnesota Vikings exercised the fourth-year option for head coach Leslie Frazier for the 2014 season yesterday.

Frazier was entering the final season of a three-year contract he signed in January 2011. The 53-year-old guided the Vikings to a 10-6 record this past season and an NFC Wild Card berth. Frazier is 16-22 in two-plus seasons with Minnesota overall.

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Utah's Al Jefferson totalled 20 points and 11 rebounds to help the Jazz beat his old team, the Timberwolves, 97-93 in Minneapolis last night. Paul Millsap added 21 points and eight boards for Utah, which has won two straight games. Derrick Williams tallied 24 points and 16 boards for Minnesota, which has lost five of its last six contests. Nikola Pekovic posted 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Ricky Rubio registered 18 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in defeat. He is now two assists shy of 500 in his career. The NBA enters the All-Star Break with festivities beginning tomorrow in Houston.

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The Golden Gophers host the 19th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers tonight in Big Ten men's basketball action at Williams Arena. The Gophers have dropped two in-a-row following Sunday's 57-53 home loss to Illinois. Minnesota sits at 17-7 on the season and 5-and-6 in conference play. Wisconsin is 17-7 and 8-3, winners of three straight Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

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Twins spring training continues today for the team's pitchers and catchers. Positional players are required to report by tomorrow with a full team workout set for Saturday. Star catcher Joe Mauer is in Fort Myers and says they held a meeting yesterday with a focus of paying attention to the little things and doing things the right way. Mauer says there are a lot of new faces in the clubhouse and he wants them to know that when the Twins were winning division titles a few years ago, the team went about their business in "the right way." He says that will be a point of emphasis this season. The first spring training game is set for Saturday, February 23rd against the Orioles in Sarasota.

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The Wild begin a brief two-game homestand tonight against the Colorado Avalanche in St. Paul. Minnesota will also host Detroit on Sunday. The Wild had their two-game winning streak snapped with a 2-1 setback in Vancouver on Tuesday. They are now 6-6-and-1 on the season. The Avs' are 4-6-1.

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Veteran winger Andrew Brunette is calling it a career and joining the Wild's front office. The Wild named Brunette Hockey Operations Advisor on Wednesday. He played with the club for six seasons on two separate occasions, from 2001-04 and from 2008-11. The 39-year-old posted 119 goals and 202 assists in 489 career games with the Wild.

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A Minnesota high school hockey player is no longer a member of his team after scoring a goal for the other team on purpose and then making obscene gestures towards his own coaches before storming off the ice. Administrators at Farmington schools say senior goaltender Austin Krause is no longer a team member, but won't say whether he quit or was thrown off the team after the Tuesday night incident. A 13-second video of the event went viral on the Internet. The goal tied the game against Chaska, which later scored to win the game over Farmington. Krause claimed on his Twitter account that he has also been suspended from school for ten-days for the incident.

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