Johnnies Advance in NCAA Tournament, Vikes Suit Up for Packers

The Gopher men's hockey team, Gopher football team, SCSU women's basketball team, Granite City Lumberjacks, NDSU Bison football team, SJU football team, and Minnesota Timberwolves all checked one in the win column on Saturday, but the Gopher women's basketball team, SCSU men's hockey team, SCSU men's basketball team, St. Cloud Norsemen, St. Cloud adapted soccer team, and Minnesota Wild all came up short. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings return home to U.S. Bank Stadium to host the NFC North-leading Green Bay Packers Sunday.

RECAPS:

- The Gopher men's hockey team notched two late goals to claim a 4-2 win over Penn State and earn the weekend series split. Sammy Walker led Minnesota by netting two. Jack LaFontaine made 35 saves and allowed two goals. The Gophers improve to 8-6 and will travel to Grand Forks on Friday to face UND at 7:00 p.m.

- The Gopher women's basketball team fell 88-58 to UConn to open up the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas. Christyn Williams led all scorers with 31 points for the Huskies. Minnesota native Paige Bueckers added eight points and six rebounds for UConn. Sara Scalia led Minnesota with 17 points. The Gophers fall to 3-2 and will face Syracuse on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.

- The SCSU men's hockey team was swept in the weekend series, after being shut out by WMU 4-0 in game two on Saturday. St. Cloud outshot the Broncos 36-24, but could not get the puck to go in. The Huskies fall to 9-5 and will host UND at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

- The SCSU men's basketball team dropped their second consecutive game 84-69 to MSU-Mankato. Caleb Donaldson led all scorers with 29 points for St. Cloud. The Huskies fall to 2-2 and will travel to Duluth to face the 4-0 Bulldogs on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

- After an uncharacteristically slow start, the SCSU women's basketball team earned their first win of the season 73-59 over Newman. Brehna Evans led all scorers with 24 points for St. Cloud. The Huskies improve to 1-1 and will hit the road to face the 2-1 UMD Bulldogs at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

- The Norsemen suffered a 7-4 loss at the hands of the North Iowa Bulls. The Bulls had seven different players find the net, while Evan Murr led St. Cloud with two goals. The Norsemen fall to 9-7. They will travel to Bismarck to face the 5-14-1 Bobcats on Friday at 7:15 p.m. St. Cloud has won three out of four matchups between the teams this season.

- The Lumberjacks kept rolling as they earned a huge 8-0 shutout win over St. Louis on Saturday. Wyatt Halvorson and Ben Anderson each found the back of the net twice for Granite City. Matthew Smith made a perfect 17 saves. The Lumberjacks improve to 18-1 and will host New Ulm at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

- The Golden Gopher football team snapped their losing streak with a 35-14 win over Indiana. Tanner Morgan completed 14 of 20 for 196 yards and two touchdowns, both of which were caught by Chris Autman-Bell. Ky Thomas added 26 carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns. The Gophers improve to 7-4 and will conclude the regular season by hosting Wisconsin in a border battle matchup on Saturday.

- The Bison racked up a commanding 52-24 win against the University of South Dakota on Saturday. Cam Miller completed 19 of 23 for 219 yards, as well as one passing and one rushing touchdown. NDSU ran in five additional touchdowns behind the legwork of Jalen Bussey, TaMerik Williams, Kamal Johnson, and Christian Watson. The Bison improve to 10-1 and finish at the top of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. That title comes with an automatic bid for the NCAA Division I Tournament, and NDSU awaits their opponent announcement which will come on Sunday.

- The Johnnies routed Lake Forest 41-14 in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament. Chris Backes completed 10 of 18 for 120 yards and four touchdowns. Devin Vouk had 17 carries for 143 yards and two touchdowns. The Johnnies improve to 11-0 overall and will host the Linfield University Wildcats in round two at noon on Saturday.

- The Wolves completed a major upset, taking down the Grizzlies 138-95.  Minnesota played strong defensively, holding Memphis to just 34.9 percent FG shooting, and snagging 50 total rebounds. D'Angelo Russell led all scorers with 28 points. The Timberwolves improve to 7-9 and the Grizzlies fall to 8-8. Minnesota will travel to New Orleans on Monday to face the Pelicans. Pre-game coverage starts at 6:30 p.m. onAM 1390 and 93.9 FM Granite City Sports.

- The Florida Panthers proved to be just too much for the Wild on Saturday, as Minnesota fell 5-4 in regulation. Frank Vatrano led all scorers with two goals for the Panthers. Minnesota falls to 11-6 and will hop over to Tampa Bay on Sunday to face the Lightning. Pre-game coverage begins at 3:45 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM Granite City Sports.

- The St. Cloud Crush fell to Stillwater 8-2 in a consolation match at the state tournament on Saturday. Stillwater went on to beat South Suburban to finish at the top of the consolation bracket. Meanwhile, in the title game, Lakeville/Burnsville/Farmington beat out Dakota United 6-3.

PREVIEWS:

- The 4-5 Vikings will host the 8-2 Packers in a divisional showdown on Sunday afternoon. The game is Minnesota's opportunity to bring their record up to .500 percent, while a win for Green Bay could mean getting one step closer to securing the NFC North title. This is the first matchup between the teams this season. The Vikings trail in the overall series 55-63-3. Pre-game kicks off at 11:00 a.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.