Gophers heading to Texas for start of NCAA Tournament

-- The University of Minnesota men's basketball team
continues to prepare for Friday's NCAA Tournament game against UCLA. The
Gophers and Bruins play in Austin, Texas. Both teams are expected to arrive
in the Lone Star State this afternoon. Minnesota has a practice scheduled
for this evening in Austin. Friday's game tips off at 8:57 p.m. The Golden
Gopher women's team is also working out today, but at the home confines of
the Barn. They did not receive an NCAA bid, but will host a WNIT game on
Friday night at Williams Arena against Ball State at 7 p.m. Tickets are on
sale for that event. 

There are several Minnesotans taking part in one of the
biggest stages of sports this week. The NCAA men's basketball tournament
gets underway this week with the Golden Gophers headlining one of several
teams boasting native Minnesota players. The Gophers have Trevor Mbakwe
(em-BOCK-way) and Chris Halverson, both of St. Paul, along with Rodney
Williams, Joe Coleman, and Andre Ingram, all of Minneapolis. Wisconsin and
Harvard each have two Minnesotans. The Badgers roster includes Mike
Bruisewitz (BREWS-uh-witts) of St. Paul and Jared Berggren of Princeton.
The Crimson has Siyani Chambers and Jonah Travis of Minneapolis. Top-seed
Gonzaga's roster includes Sam Dower of Osseo. St. Cloud native Nate Wolters
is the leading scorer for South Dakota State. Bucknell's star player is
Mike Muscala of Roseville, while Marquette's Trent Lockett is from Golden
Valley. Creighton's Ethan Wragge is from Eden Prairie, while his Blue Jay
teammate Isiah Zierden grew up in St. Louis Park. St. Louis University
guard Jordair Jett hails from St. Paul, while Oregon swingman Carlos Emory
is from Bloomington. Wichita State reserve Jake White is from Chaska. The
NCAA Tourney began last night with play-in games, while the event fully gets
underway tomorrow. (MNN)