Minnesota Sports Roundup: T-Wolves win a rare game

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MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota's Nikola Pekovic nailed two go-ahead free throws with 14 seconds remaining and Andrei Kirilenko had two key blocks down the stretch, as the Timberwolves topped the New Orleans Hornets 97-95 last night in the Twin Cities.

Both players returned for their first action in while. Pekovic had missed the previous nine games, while Kirilenko was out for eight games, both due to injuries. Derrick Williams scored a career-high 28 points to lead Minnesota, which snapped a brief two-game skid. The T'wolves begin a three-game road trip tonight in Memphis.

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The University of Minnesota men's basketball team will be dancing this month. Minnesota grabbed the 11th-seed in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament as the bracket was announced last night. The Gophers will take on sixth-seeded UCLA on Friday in Austin, Texas. The winner of that game will play on Sunday night against the winner of Friday's other game between No. 3 seed Florida Gators and 14th-seed Northwestern State. Minnesota went 20-12 this season to earn its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010. __________________________________________________________________________

The top-ranked University of Minnesota women's hockey team scored a 3-2 triple overtime win over North Dakota on Saturday afternoon to move into this weekend's NCAA Frozen Four in Minneapolis. The Golden Gophers will take on Boston College at Ridder Arena on Friday at 5 p.m. in one national semifinal game. Boston University skates against Mercyhurst in the other semifinal on Friday at 8 p.m. The Friday winners will clash on Saturday at 3 p.m. for the national championship. Minnesota is 39-0-0 this season and the defending national title team.

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The No. 10 ranked Minnesota State-Mankato men's hockey team advanced into the WCHA Final Five with a 3-1 win over 20th-ranked Nebraska-Omaha last night in Mankato. This will be the Mavericks first trip to the Final Five in ten years. MSU-Mankato will play WIsconsin at 2 p.m. on Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center. The winner will play top-seed St. Cloud State on Friday at 2 p.m. Colorado College and North Dakota play at 7 p.m. on Thursday with the winner getting the No. 2 seed Minnesota Golden Gophers on Friday at 7 p.m. The championship game is set for Saturday night at 7 p.m.

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