Minnesota Sports Briefs: T-Wolves dominated by Lakers

• Minnesota Timberwolves

Minnesota Timberwolves

Talk about it

LOS ANGELES -- The LA Lakers dominated the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-94 in Los Angeles last night.

LA star Kobe Bryant netted 33 points, five rebounds and five assists in the victory. It was Los Angeles' 21st-straight win over Minnesota. Dwight Howard posted 11 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks, while Antawn Jamison added 17 points and eight boards off the bench. The Lakers have won four of five to move to 29-30. LA hasn't been at .500 since December 28th. Ricky Rubio tallied 13 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds in the loss. Reserve J.J. Barea dropped a team-high 20 points for Minnesota, which fell to 20-35. The Wolves are at Portland tomorrow night.

_____________________________________________________________________

The University of Minnesota Golden Gopher men's basketball team hosts the Penn State Nittany Lions tomorrow in their home finale at Williams Arena. The Gophers snapped a two-game skid with Tuesday's 77-73 upset of top-ranked Indiana. Minnesota sits at 19-9 and 7-8 in the Big Ten. Penn State snapped its 14-game losing streak with an upset win over fourth-ranked Michigan on Wednesday. The Nittany Lions are 9-18 and 1-14.

_____________________________________________________________________

Minnesota's Justin Morneau knocked in three runs to lead the Twins to a 7-1 rout of the Orioles in Fort Myers yesterday. Joe Mauer and Josh Willingham both went 2-for-2 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored for Minnesota, which upped its record to 4-2. Starter Liam Hendricks tossed three scoreless innings. The Twins take on the Florida Marlins today in Jupiter.

_______________________________________________________________________

A major funding source for the new Vikings stadium -- electronic pulltabs -- continues to fall significantly short of expectations according to the latest state budget forecast. The prediction for e-pulltab revenue has been reduced $15 million dollars this year and $46 million in 2014/15. Officials say, based on that projection, stadium-related spending will exceed expected e-pulltab revenues by $12 million in 2015 and $31 million in 2017. Governor Dayton says there are fallback revenue sources such as a surcharge on suites or another lottery game, but predicts "in a year's time we'll see significant improvement." When asked whether the Vikings stadium opening date might have to be pushed back, Dayton said "no." And would he be open to racino or casino proposals to help fund the stadium? "Not at this time, no," says the governor.

_________________________________________________________________________

NFL teams will have a little extra breathing room when it comes to the 2013 salary cap. NFL.com reports the cap is set at 123-million-dollars, a $2.4-million jump from last season's $120.6-million. All teams will have a minimum salary benefit of $900,000, bringing the total to $123.9-million. The new league year begins on March 12th.

__________________________________________________________________________

Apple Valley and St. Michael-Albertville wrestled to a 28-28 tie in last night's 2013 Minnesota High School State Team Wrestling Tournament Class AAA championship dual The two teams were declared co-champions and each will get a state title trophy. For Apple Valley, this was its eighth consecutive state championship. Kasson-Mantorville lived up to its No. 1 seeding in Class AA, beating defending champ Simley in the championship dual 30-27. Simley had won the previous five team championships. And, defending Class A title team Jackson County Central beat Frazee in the finals 38-22 to claim its fourth straight state crown. Individual competition begins today and will conclude tomorrow at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

__________________________________________________________________________

The 2013 Minnesota State Boys' Swimming and Diving Meet continues today at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. St. Thomas Academy and Eden Prairie are both looking for repeat championships from last year. St. Thomas won the Class A trophy in 2012, while Eden Prairie claimed the Class AA title. There are a total of ten individual champions from last year returning across the two classes for this weekend's state meet. Competition wraps up on Saturday. The diving prelims took place yesterday with the first swimming events set to begin later today.

_________________________________________________________________________

Here is the WCHA Women's Hockey Postseason Playoff Schedule, first-round series are a best-of-three:

Friday: Bemidji State at Minnesota, 6pm

Friday: St. Cloud State at Wisconsin, 7pm

Friday: Minnesota State-Mankato at North Dakota, 2pm

Friday: Ohio State at Minnesota-Duluth, 2pm

Saturday: Bemidji State at Minnesota, 4pm

Saturday: St. Cloud State at Wisconsin, 7pm

Saturday: Minnesota State-Mankato at North Dakota, 2pm

Saturday: Ohio State at Minnesota-Duluth, 2pm

Sunday: Bemidji State at Minnesota, 4pm (if necessary)

Sunday: St. Cloud State at Wisconsin, 4pm (if necessary)

Sunday: Minnesota State-Mankato at North Dakota, 2pm (if necessary)

Sunday: Ohio State at Minnesota-Duluth, 2pm (if necessary)

____________________________________________________________________

NASCAR heads to Phoenix for Sunday's Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Jimmie Johnson opened the Sprint Cup season with a win in the Daytona 500 this past Sunday. Denny Hamlin is the defending champion of this event, while Kevin Harvick won the most recent race in Phoenix last November.

Tags: minnesota sports, proam, sports, timberolwves, vikings, twins, prep