Minnesota hosts Belmont following Grocholski's 20-point game
Indianapolis; Wednesday, 6 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota plays Belmont after Grace Grocholski scored 20 points in Minnesota's 66-52 win over the Florida Gators.
Minnesota is ninth in the Big Ten scoring 73.4 points while shooting 44.0% from the field.
Belmont is second in the MVC giving up 63.2 points while holding opponents to 38.4% shooting.
Minnesota averages 73.4 points, 10.2 more per game than the 63.2 Belmont allows. Belmont averages 8.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.8 more made shots on average than the 6.2 per game Minnesota gives up.
TOP PERFORMERS: Grocholski is scoring 13.5 points per game and averaging 5.0 rebounds for the Golden Gophers. Tori McKinney is averaging 1.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Jailyn Banks is averaging 12.8 points and 3.3 assists for the Bruins. Tuti Jones is averaging 11.2 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Gophers: 5-5, averaging 70.4 points, 30.8 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 5.8 steals and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 44.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.1 points per game.
Bruins: 9-1, averaging 73.5 points, 37.2 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 7.9 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 41.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.7 points.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Times of Troy: Six bold predictions for the USC football team in 2025
Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, and the happiest of birthdays to my son, Camden, who turns 2 today. Judging by how often he's pointing at the TV and screaming for me to turn on NFL preseason games, I'd say he is as ready for 'ball ball' season as anyone. Fortunately for him — and us — we are less than two weeks out from USC's season opener against Missouri State. There's still a lot we don't know. But before we walk our way through the schedule next week, it's time to get on the record with a few things I think might happen with USC.. Here are six bold predictions for the Trojans in 2025: Jayden Maiava will throw for 30 touchdowns this season. But he'll also throw 15 interceptions. Maiava made a concerted effort over the summer to eliminate the back-breaking mistakes he struggled with last season. He dug deeper into Lincoln Riley's offense, and he worked on his mechanics with the experts at the 3DQB training academy. But Maiava's style is always going to lend itself to high variance. He loves to chuck it deep and still seems to throw it too often into coverage. That's going to yield some thrilling results at times on an offense that should be more conducive to big plays. But 4.3% of his passes last season were deemed turnover-worthy by Pro Football Focus. That was third-highest in the Big Ten and too high for USC's offense to reach its potential. His big-time throw rate was also third-highest in the Big Ten at 5.1%, though, and that was before he fully grasped the Trojans offense. There's room to grow here. But I'd caution that his proclivity for throwing caution to the wind might just be a part of the deal with Maiava. USC will be shuffling its offensive line all season. USC hasn't really had a reliable front since Riley's first season, and this is by far his most unproven unit yet. The interior is a legitimate concern if DJ Wingfield isn't deemed eligible. I expect at some point this season we'll see a former walk-on (Kilian O'Connor) and a preferred walk-on (Kaylon Miller) start a game at center and guard, respectively. And while both should be commended for their development, that's not a good sign for USC's offense. The Trojans desperately need Elijah Paige to deliver on his huge potential this season at left tackle, Alani Noa to iron out some of his inconsistencies at right guard, and Tobias Raymond to live up to Riley's billing of him as one of the best players on the team. That's a lot to ask. Expect many different combinations up front for USC, with J'Onre Reed, Micah Banuelos and Justin Tauanuu also logging starts throughout. That's eight different starters on the line, which would be the most since Riley took over at USC. USC will have two 1,000-yard receivers. The last time a duo of Trojan receivers crossed that mark was 2019, so not that long ago, but it's been pretty rare around college football the past decade. Less than two teams on average per year, to be exact. Still, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Ja'Kobi Lane and Makai Lemon both cross that mark. Lemon's last eight games of 2024 put him on pace for more than 1,000 yards already, and that was with a much less potent downfield passing game for most of the season. Lane might be the more unlikely of the two to reach this mark, but I'm betting on talent. He has to see more targets this season. I wouldn't be surprised to see a target share for the two of them that nears 50%. In the bowl game, the two of them saw a combined 18 targets, a 46% target share. Walker Lyons will be USC's most productive tight end. This is no shade on Lake McRee, who has been a reliable tentpole of the Trojans' attack for a while now. But Lyons is just the sort of tight end that should thrive in Riley's offense. More than anyone Riley has worked with yet at USC, Lyons is more in the mold of Mark Andrews, who emerged as one of the top tight ends in college football in Riley's first season at Oklahoma. Like Andrews, he came to college as more of a skilled receiver learning to play inline. Now it's clear he's ready for the next step. A breakout season could be incoming. USC will have three first-round picks next April. A look at recent history might suggest that I'm crazy. USC had three players drafted total last spring and haven't seen three Trojans drafted in the first round since 2009. Alas, I'm still not deterred. Either or both of Lemon and Lane could hear their names called in the first round. Kamari Ramsey might have been a first-round pick last season, if he'd declared, and Gentry has all the tools to make it happen. It's not crazy to think that others could enter the chat too. With a huge breakout season, Maiava, Paige and defensive tackle Devan Thompkins are intriguing cases to consider. Though, the first round might be a bit too optimistic. USC will rediscover its pass rush. Count me as someone who believes USC's defense takes another step forward. And I expect that progress will be most apparent in the defensive front, where USC could barely conjure a pass rush last season. Braylan Shelby led the 2024 defense with … three measly sacks. I expect we'll see five different Trojan pass rushers pass that number this season. Gentry and sophomore Kameryn Fountain are both capable of reaching double-digit sacks, while Shelby, Anthony Lucas and freshman Jahkeem Stewart each are sure to chip in a handful on their own. Judging by early praise, Stewart could very well be the team's best pass rusher by December. Have your own bold takes or predictions that you want to get on the record in the next Times of Troy newsletter? Send them to me at and I'll include some of the best ones next week. —The NCAA's 2010 sanctions of USC only get more insane by the year. This week, the NCAA issued its punishment in the Michigan sign-stealing scandal. Aside from a $20-million fine, which is substantial, the punishment reflected how much has changed societally since 2010, and the reality of how toothless the NCAA has become. That wasn't the case in 2010, when the NCAA dropped the hammer on USC, taking away 30 scholarships and banning them from bowl games for two seasons amid the Reggie Bush saga, while the BCS stripped the school of its 2004 title. That punishment was devastating primarily to players who had nothing to do with the crime. This latest ruling clearly tried to avoid that, which is a commendable change from the NCAA. But it did understandably upset some USC fans who are still frustrated with how they were treated in a case that had far less of an actual influence on the field. —Special teams coach Ryan Dougherty understands USC's placekicking hasn't been good enough. Michael Lantz hit just 14 of his 21 attempts (66.7%) last season. Denis Lynch hit 10 of 14 (71%) in 2023 and 15 of 22 in 2022 (68.2%). A few more made field goals last season might have made the difference in some of USC's narrow losses. This season, Dougherty will put his faith in sophomore Caden Chittenden, who set the Mountain West record last year for a freshman kicker with 26 made field goals. Chittenden seems like a safe bet to be a significant improvement at a position that's been lacking during Riley's tenure. —Makai Lemon will be USC's top punt returner. Some of you might wonder why USC would invite the added risk of having Lemon return punts. But Riley wouldn't even entertain that line of thinking this week. The coach said that 'there's nothing anyone would do that would keep us from playing them on punt return.' Given how electric Lemon can be in the return game, I get it. USC has just one punt return touchdown during Riley's entire tenure. That unit needs to be better. —Rawlinson Stadium is officially open. Which means the first step of USC's $200-million Athletics West capital project is complete. Reporters were invited last week on a tour of the Trojans' gleaming new soccer and lacrosse stadium, and let's just say it's a significant improvement on their old home, McAlister Field. McAlister could barely fit 1,000 people, didn't have lights and didn't even have locker rooms for the team. Rawlinson has a capacity of 2,500, a press box, viewing decks for fans and a video board, while the lockers are customized based on feedback directly from the players. Women's soccer coach Jane Alukonis made clear to reporters how much Rawlinson would influence the program's recruiting efforts. USC invested $38 million to make it happen. Now we can see why. Michigan hit with major fine for sign-stealing scheme. Jim Harbaugh's NCAA exile extended 10 years Micah Banuelos works to make up for lost time as USC aims to build its strongest offensive line Why USC is not in the AP Top 25 preseason poll So much has been written about Todd Marinovich over the years, but never has he written about his harrowing journey in his own words until now. In 'Marinovich: Outside the Lines of Football, Art, and Addiction', the former USC quarterback opens up a vein, giving readers an unvarnished look at how he went from child prodigy and 'Robo Quarterback' to drug addict and NFL washout. It's rare that athletes really examine themselves at the level that Marinovich does in this autobiography. He even tries to correct the record about his father, Marv, who he writes was a 'thorny scapegoat.' If you find Marinovich and his story of redemption at all interesting, I'd recommend checking it out. That concludes today's newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you'd like to see, email me at and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
MSU football lands near bottom of Big Ten in popular preseason power rankings
Official 2025 Preseason KFord Ratings Michigan State football is considered one of the most improved teams in the country, but one popular sports rating system still believes they'll be a bottom tier Big Ten team this year. Kelley Ford released the official 2025 preseason KFord ratings on Sunday, with the Spartans landing just outside the top 50 nationally. Michigan State was ranked No. 52 nationally in the preseason ratings from Ford. The preseason ratings are based on the points per game above or below FBS average, with the power ratings designed to be purely predictive or forward looking. Among Big Ten teams, Michigan State ranked No. 15 -- only ahead of Purdue (No. 98 nationally), Maryland (No. 68) and Northwestern (No. 66). Ironically, Michigan State is considered the most improved Big Ten team by Ford when comparing his final ratings from the 2024 season to this year. Michigan State is coming off three straight seasons of missing out on the postseason, finishing last year with a 5-7 record. The Spartans are expected to be improved this year but also still have a win total over/under at 5.5 -- suggesting they'll once again be right around the bowl cut line in 2025. Check out the complete preseason ratings and rankings from Ford in the social media post below: Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
What we learned from Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and QB Drake Maye on ‘Scoop City'
The Athletic's NFL Insider Dianna Russini sat down with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and starting quarterback Drake Maye for a conversation about training camp, the upcoming season and more on a recent episode of 'Scoop City.' Here are five things we learned from the conversations. Ahead of the Patriots' 20-12 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Saturday's preseason game, the two teams engaged in a couple of joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday. Vrabel was happy with the way his quarterback managed to navigate a tricky defense. 'These practices here against the Vikings' defense, they do a lot, they show you a lot,' Vrabel said. 'They try to put you in a blender. By that, we mean, one play, it's hard and then you just start thinking about the last play and then the next play becomes harder and harder until you're just spinning in a blender. Advertisement 'That's what they like to use in the quarterback room, and I didn't see (Maye) do that (Wednesday). He wasn't perfect by any means but he never went in the blender, so I think that's good.' Vrabel attributed that success to Maye's ability to not 'let it be too big' and process one play at a time. Vrabel said Maye was able to lead the offense and get everybody on the same page. Maye was asked what characteristics allowed him to avoid those issues. 'We talk about in the quarterback room, staying confident and cool and collected, kind of when the chaos is going on,' Maye said. 'Try not to get our offense into bad plays and really, it's just really myself to trust the guys around me. I think that's the big thing. Trust those guys. 'They're great players and I think the biggest thing is, when chaos is going around, take care of the football and just try to (think), 'Hey, if they get us this play, just tackle the next down.' That's what coach Vrabel talks about and what they talk about in the quarterback room with coach (Josh) McDaniels.' Speaking of McDaniels, the second-year quarterback spoke glowingly about the relationship with his offensive coordinator, saying McDaniels coaches hard but gets excited when things go well and 'always has the quarterback's back.' 'He's always just thinking ahead,' Maye said. 'He knows the system so well. He kind of knows the answers and knows, kind of second nature, what we should have done or what he saw that play. He sees it so well. It's cool watching all of the old tape back of all their games back in the days. He knows the down and distance and what was going on and who scored a touchdown and what the protection was and what happened. 'We have plays in practice now that he pulls back old clips of that same play where something happened and kind of relates to that. So, it's really cool to see him relate it back to that and relate it to helping us out and play better.' After his tenure with the Tennessee Titans ended abruptly following the 2023 season, Vrabel spent the 2024 campaign with the Cleveland Browns as a consultant. He talked about how his season there reminded him of the importance of relationships with the players. He also said that Browns co-owner Dee Haslam gave him the nickname 'Human Resource.' Advertisement 'I'm like, I don't even know if that's a good thing or a bad thing,' Vrabel said. 'I'm like, 'What does that mean?' Dee was like, 'I don't know, I see you over here, I see you over here, I see you over there. I was like, 'Thank you, I hope that that's a positive.' Vrabel revealed that the version of 'Human Resource' for the Patriots would be vice president of football operations and strategy, John 'Stretch' Streicher, who Vrabel called an extension of himself and 'the heartbeat of what we do as an operation.' Vrabel described the kind of culture he's instilling in New England as one that allows flexibility, in some ways, but is also unified. 'We can have different personalities,' Vrabel said. 'We have to have one mentality. That mentality is about the team, about our identity.' Vrabel said it's essential for Maye to set the tone in that regard because 'when the quarterback does things, everybody else says, 'Oh, that must be the right thing to do.' ' Vrabel also emphasized the role of players taking ownership of the team's identity. 'I can talk about it until I'm blue in the face,' Vrabel said. 'They're the ones that, it's their identity. Hopefully, once you build something, you protect it, because it's yours. You build a home, you protect it. You build a family, you protect it. That's what we talk about.' Coming off his year as a consultant in Cleveland, Vrabel was a hot name in the coaching hiring cycle. He mentioned the New York Jets and the Chicago Bears as a couple of intriguing options but called taking over the Patriots 'the right choice at the right time.' Vrabel, who spent eight of his 14 years playing in the NFL with the Patriots, recounted a previous opportunity to be a coach in New England as an assistant on Bill Belichick's staff. At that time, he turned down the offer for another chance. Advertisement 'Ended up going to Houston,' Vrabel said. 'I felt like that was the best thing for me at that time, to go there and learn from Bill O'Brien, which I did. I learned a lot, and it helped prepare me for the opportunity in Tennessee. When the time was right, if it all worked out, we could come back here. Now, we are. We're getting started on this thing.' Vrabel's longtime head coach in New England, Belichick, has repeatedly dismissed being present on social media. Vrabel is a bit different, saying a short stop to the TikTok app is the first thing he checks on his phone in the morning, followed by catching up on news on X. There were other fun tidbits Vrabel revealed about himself, such as his morning coffee order and his lack of patience for ping-pong. However, there were two things, outside of football, that Vrabel says drive him crazy. 'People, when they leave their carts in the middle of the parking lot and they don't take them back to the cart return,' Vrabel said. 'And then, the people at Starbucks that park in a handicapped spot (who do not have a disability) and try to go in there and get their order from the mobile order.' A post shared by Scoop City (@tascoopcity) Vrabel feels so passionately about the latter that he said he'll check the dashboard looking for a disabled parking permit and then wait in the parking lot to confront people. One time, somebody told Vrabel they were just there to pick up a DoorDash order. 'I'm like, 'I don't care,' ' Vrabel said. 'That's unacceptable.' To a mom who was rushing to yoga in the morning, Vrabel said it was 'ridiculous.' 'When I didn't have a job, I had nothing else to do,' Vrabel said. 'I could sit here for 15 minutes, wait for this person to come out and actually see if they're handicapped.' Vrabel said it bothers him so much that he would slash their tires if he could. When proposed with a boot instead, Vrabel was on board with the idea. 'I wish I had a boot,' Vrabel said. 'That's a great idea. I would boot their car. Just like a mobile boot that says, 'I parked in a handicapped spot and I'm not handicapped.' ' (Top photo of Mike Vrabel: David Berding / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
