Minnesota
Minnesota narrowly avoids a meltdown against Nebraska winning 62-58
Minnesota defeated Nebraska 62-58 at Williams Arena. The Gophers improve to 13-3 on the season and 3-2 in conference play. Mallory Heyer led all scorers with 16 points.
The Gophers jumped out to an early lead and had the game well in hand during the first half. Janay Sanders and Amaya Battle led the offense early, combining for 9 of the Minnesota’s first 19 points. In the second quarter, the Gophers were mostly cold from the field, with only Sophie Hart managing to score more than two points. Fortunately, good defense and some luck held the Cornhuskers to just 19 total points in the half, allowing Minnesota to take a 32-19 lead into the third quarter. Nebraska was just 2-12 from distance in the first half, which contributed to the issues.
With their previous coach in attendance, the Gophers decided to honor the least fun part of her tenure as a coach by having a putrid third quarter. Nebraska went on multiple runs, including a 14-2 run to erase the Gophers lead with 5:23 remaining in the third quarter. On defense, Minnesota looked confused, frequently giving Nebraska wide open looks which for most of the third quarter the Cornhuskers made. I struggled to understand what Minnesota was trying to do on offense, especially during the stretches where Sophie Hart was off the floor. The Gophers were stagnant in the half court, often resorting to poor isolation sets with minimal time remaining on the shot clock.
The fourth quarter provided a similar story, as the Gophers clung on to a small lead. Mara Braun finally made her first (and second) field goals in the game in the fourth quarter, and a late Amaya Battle three pointer with eight seconds to go proved to be just enough to escape a chilly Sunday with a win.
Notes
Braun was absolutely brutal from the floor. She finished 2-17 from the field and 1-6 from distance. Generally speaking, when Braun plays badly the Gophers lose, so credit them for finding other scorers, but that stat line is one to forget.
Conversely, Mallory Heyer had another excellent game. In addition to being Minnesota’s leading scorer with 16, Heyer added six rebounds. My kingdom for the day that Heyer, Braun, and Grocholski all have a good day shooting.
The Gophers travel to Bloomington to play Indiana on January 17th. The game will be streaming on Peacock.
The entirety of the Metro Transit Blue Line and parts of the Green Line will shut down for a few weeks this summer and be replaced by buses as crews work to swap worn track and outdated equipment.
The Blue Line will be offline from June 29 to Aug. 19. The west end of the Green Line — from West Bank to Target Field — will shut down between July 1 and July 26 and again between Aug. 16 and Aug. 19.
Metro Transit says buses will stop at or near the stations every 15 minutes. Some boarding locations will be moved to Hiawatha Avenue, and staff will help guide riders to their bus stops for the construction period.
Nearly every stop along the 22-year-old Blue Line will see improvement, Metro Transit says. The stations will be outfitted with real-time signs and shelter glass.
“We recognize that this needed maintenance work will be disruptive to riders, but once completed, the work we do this summer will help improve the customer experience for years to come,” said General Manager Lesley Kandaras.
The Green Line will be back in service for the beginning of August to accommodate summer events, such as Twins and Lynx games, the WWE Summer Slam at U.S. Bank Stadium and Noah Kahan and Ed Sheeran concerts.
We had another beautiful day across the region. Temperatures were still slightly below average. Winds will continue to be off the lake but our focus for tonight will be the chance for strong to severe thunderstorms across north-central Minnesota. The biggest threats will be hail, gusty winds and lightning.
Additional showers and thunderstorms are expected Wednesday, mainly during the afternoon and early evening.
Strong or severe storms are not currently expected Wednesday. However, some of these pop up storms could produce some damaging winds.
A more summer-like pattern is expected for the end of the week into early next week with increasing moisture and temperatures.
Chances for storms are expected to return on Sunday and continue into the new week.
Tonight
Showers and thunderstorms redevelop later tonight with fog by sunrise, the low will be around 48. East wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
Wednesday
AM Fog with afternoon showers and thunderstorms with a high near 63. East wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
Thursday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 69. East wind around 5 mph.
Friday
Partly sunny, with a high near 69. East wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday
A slight chance of showers after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 69. Breezy, with an east wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Sunday
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74. Breezy, with an east wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Monday
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 81. Southeast wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tuesday
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph.
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The Portland Trail Blazers picked Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori as their next head coach on Tuesday, after making the playoffs for the first time in five years under the direction of interim coach Tiago Splitter.
Nori, who spent the past five seasons with the Timberwolves, has interviewed for multiple head coach vacancies, including the Chicago Bulls earlier this month, the New York Knicks last year, and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024.
Nori, 52, was the lead assistant under Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch while the club made the playoffs each season, won five series, and reached the Western Conference finals in 2023 and 2024. Nori, who began his NBA career in 1998 as a scout with the Toronto Raptors, has also been an assistant for the Raptors, the Sacramento Kings, the Denver Nuggets, and the Detroit Pistons. His son, Dante, is a minor league baseball player in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.
Splitter, who was hired last week as head coach of the Chicago Bulls, was promoted from assistant to interim coach when then-head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested in October in a federal takedown of a sprawling gambling operation. Billups has pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering.
The Blazers went 42-40 with a five-game loss to NBA finalist San Antonio in the first round of the playoffs, the first postseason appearance and first time they finished with a winning record in five years.
The news comes a day after the Wolves reportedly traded three-time All-Star Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets in a three-team trade that sends Nic Claxton to the Chicago Bulls.
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