Lawrence McKenziehas a knuckle sprain on his right hand that he admitted earlier this week bothers him. “It’s pretty sore,” the Gophers’ senior guard said. “It’s something that gets bumped and bruised everyday at practice. It’s hard for the swelling to go down but I wouldn’t blame the way I am playing on my hand. Sometimes when I get in a game I forget about it. …”
McKenzie’s scoring has been inconsistent. He’s averaging 10.9 points per game after a career high of 14.9 last season. The Gophers play at Ohio State tomorrow night. (Limited viewing here because the game is telecast on the Big Ten Network).
Stubhub.com lists a tickets price range of $56-$343 for the Gophers’ home game against Wisconsin on February 3. The Iowa game on February 9 has a range of $57-$252.
Minnesota coach Tubby Smith is the cover story in this month’s Northwest Airlines in-flight magazine. The feature is written by Jeff Shelman who covered Gopher basketball until this season for the Star Tribune but is now working in the paper’s news department.
Ali Lucia started work earlier this month as a news anchor and producer at Fox 47 TV in Rochester, Minnesota. She’s the daughter of Gopher hockey coach Don Lucia.
Lucia’s Gophers have been outscored 34-18 in the third period, including 24-7 in WCHA games. But Minnesota has out shot its opponents in third periods with a 271-258 edge in overall games and a 178-145 advantage in the WCHA. The Gophers have out scored teams 51-33 in the first two periods. Minnesota plays at Wisconsin tonight and tomorrow night.
There’s opinion that Ohio State award winning linebacker James Laurinaitis, the former Wayzata star, lacks the speed to excite NFL scouts. That could be a reason he is returning for his senior season at Ohio State, rather than turning pro. He hasn’t impressed in Ohio State’s two national championship games against the speed of Florida and LSU.
With the value of NFL football fullbacks who can block, don’t be surprised if the Gophers’ Justin Valentine is invited to a pro camp and makes the team. He was a solid contributor for three seasons in the Gophers running game but didn’t fit in the new spread offense last year.
As of Tuesday, Minnesota Swarm goalie Nick Patterson led the National Lacrosse League in goals against average at 9.88 per game and ranked second in save percentage,.802. The Swarm has its first Minnesota-born player ever signed to a contract in Colin Achenbach of Burnsville, an Apple Valley High School alum. The Swarm, 2-0, off to its best start in franchise history, plays at Rochester tomorrow night.
The women’s basketball team from Concordia University in St. Paul, is No. 2 nationally in the USA Today ESPN top 25 rankings of Division II teams. The 2007 national champion women’s volleyball team met with Governor Tim Pawlenty earlier this week at the state capitol.
The Gophers’ track and field team will be honoring a trio of Big Ten Conference championship groups at a reunion on Saturday following the Jack Johnson Minnesota Invitational. The Gophers will welcome members of the 1998 Big Ten indoor and outdoor championship team, and the 2003 Big Ten outdoor champs.