Always a fierce competitor when the stakes are at their highest, Anthony Edwards was asked back at the start of training camp how he’d keep himself motivated against the league’s cellar dwellers.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, rear, goes to the basket against Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) in the first quarter of an NBA Cup basketball game Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

The affable star guard delivered another of his patently honest answers.

“Try to get a career high in points,” Edwards said. “I think that’s how I’m going to try to do it, because I usually approach it like, ‘Ah, I’m going to let my teammates get that (shots) off.’ Instead, I’m just going to go for a career high. I think that’s how I’m going to stay engaged.”

That formula is now 1 for 1 in terms of effectiveness.

In his first game of the season against a suspected tanking team, Edwards scored 29 of his 37 points in the first half as Minnesota pummeled Utah 137-97 in Minneapolis in the team’s NBA Cup group play opener on the fluorescent green Target Center floor.

It was all Wolves from start to finish, as Minnesota utilized a cranked-up defensive intensity to build up a 27-6 advantage midway through the opening frame.

The Wolves also disposed of Charlotte and Brooklyn with relative ease within the past week, but Edwards was sidelined for those contests with a hamstring strain.

Thus far this season, his only full games were against Portland, the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks. Friday marked the All-NBA guard’s first chance to pour it on an inferior foe. He didn’t waste it.

Edwards went 10 for 16 from the field — including 6 for 10 from deep — in the first half alone as Minnesota led 79-45 at half.

But truly everyone rolled throughout the evening. Julius Randle logged his second triple-double over the last three games, finishing with 19 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. Jaden McDaniels’ run of efficient offense continued to the tune of 22 points on 9 for 14 shooting to go with three steals and two blocked shots.

And the entire team defended in the manner it has yearned to do since the season’s outset.

Minnesota held Utah (3-6) to 37% shooting while forcing 18 turnovers it parlayed into 22 points. Jazz star forward Lauri Markkanen finished with just 12 points on 4 for 14 shooting.

The massive margin of victory sets Minnesota (5-4) up well for NBA Cup advancement. The winners of each of the six groups automatically advance to the quarterfinals, but there are also two additional spots for wildcard teams. Those are given to the 3-1 teams with the best point differential in group play.

Minnesota’s group is quite favorable. On top of Utah, the Wolves will play Sacramento and Phoenix, who are also expected to occupy positions near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Win those games, and the Wolves may have a quarterfinal spot all but secure before they even play the Oklahoma City Thunder in their group play finale on Nov. 26.

The Wolves failed to reach the quarterfinals in each of the first two years of Cup play. They’re now in a strong position to do so in their trip around the block.

Related Articles

Takeaways from Timberwolves’ latest defensive flop in blowout loss to Knicks

Takeaways from Timberwolves’ win in Brooklyn

Julius Randle leads Wolves past Hornets in Charlotte

Frederick: Where is the Timberwolves’ urgency?

Austin Reaves gives L.A. Lakers another reason to rely on him with buzzer-beater vs. Wolves

The Gophers football program gained a commitment Friday from  Michael “MJ” Graham, a sophomore safety from Hutchinson Community College. He is the fifth pledge to Minnesota’s 2026 class over the previous week.

The 5-foot-11, 190-pound safety, with a three-star rating from 247Sports, had offers from Michigan State, Kansas State, West Virginia, Costal Carolina and Central Florida and others.

He and two other Hutchinson teammates visited the Gophers during their bye this week. Defensive lineman KJ Henson and receiver Derrick Salley were also on the trip, according to 247Sports.

Graham has 28 total tackles and six interceptions so far this season. He had 16 tackles and two picks as a freshman.

The Oklahoma City, Okla., native played quarterback as well as basketball at Westmoore High School. He was committed to play football at Houston before going to a JUCO.

Related Articles

Loons vs. Seattle: Keys to match, storylines and prediction 

Why is P.J. Fleck always mentioned for coaching vacancies?

Gophers football adds former Ohio State pledge Aaron Thomas

Gophers flip Madison, Wis., lineman Beckett Schreiber from Washington State

Gophers flip big running back Jett Walker from West Virginia

Griffen Dean couldn’t have picked a much better time to have a career night.

The junior set school records with 292 yards rushing and six touchdowns, and Lakeville South pulled away in the second half Friday night to dethrone defending state champion Maple Grove 49-31 in a Class 6A football quarterfinal in Apple Valley.

Dean scored on runs of 40, 73 and 1 yard in the second half as a two-point lead turned into a rout. Nic Swanson had a 72-yard run during the stretch in which the Cougars scored 28 straight points.

Lakeville South (9-2) will bring its Power-T rushing attack to U.S. Bank Stadium for a Nov. 14 semifinal game with pass-happy Moorhead (7-4). The Spuds beat Centennial 35-21 Thursday.

James Engle ran for two scores and Kaden Harney threw for one touchdown and ran for another, but the Crimson (10-1) lost for the first time in 24 games.

Lakeville South did not attempt a pass; its lone punt came with backups in the game.

A 3-yard run by Engle got Maple Grove within 21-19 early in the second half, but Dean capped an 80-yard drive with a 40-yard dash.

Three plays after a Maple Grove punt, Dean went 73 yards to paydirt to make it 35-19 late in the third quarter.

Swanson scored early in the fourth, and Dean completed his night from the 1 midway through the final frame to make it 49-19.

Lakeville South led 21-13 at the break as both team’s offenses scored as they traditionally do: ball control drives for the Cougars and quick strikes for the Crimson.

Running its Power-T offense to perfection, a 25-yard run by Dean capped a 12-play opening Cougars drive. But Maple Grove needed just five plays to tie the game on a 32-yard reception by Josh Thompson.

Dean’s 6-yard run early in the second quarter capped a nearly eight-minute drive for a 14-7 Lakeville South lead.

Following a Crimson punt, the junior then capped an eight-play drive with a 21-yard burst with 2:03 left in the half. But Engle scored from the 6 with 32.5 seconds left to complete a 60-yard drive that took 90 seconds.

Maple Grove running back James Engle (24) pushes his way past Lakeville South defenders for a touchdown during the second half of a football quarterfinal in the State Football Tournament at Eastview High School in Apple Valley, Friday, Nov. 07, 2025. Lakeville South won 49-31. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Related Articles

Football: Hill-Murray falls in Class 4A state quarterfinals

Football: Moorhead beats Centennial in Class 6A state quarters

Updated Minnesota high school state football brackets. Semifinals set in 4A and 9-Player

High School Football: St. Thomas Academy, Hill-Murray punch tickets to state

Football: Woodbury drops shootout against Moorhead in section final

With something closely resembling their full lineup in place for the first time this season, the Minnesota Wild offered a vision of the team they can be, when everything is clicking, Friday on Long Island.

Leading start to finish, the Wild won for the third time in four games this month, pulling away from the New York Islanders for a 5-2 victory at UBS Arena.

Along the way, the Wild put the game to bed in the third period on a highlight reel back-and-forth passing play between reunited linemates Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello to give Minnesota a three-goal lead late.

“It’s pretty impressive that he can be off and come off surgery and then play the way he did, which is great,” Wild coach John Hynes said in the postgame scrum with reporters at the Islanders’ home rink. “Him coming back into the lineup added some good depth and some other different combinations which we felt would work well together.”

Zuccarello, playing for the first time this season after returning from a lower-body injury, wasted no time making his presence felt. Less than two minutes into the game, he hit Ryan Hartman with a long lead pass that sprung Hartman on an unsuccessful breakaway.

Jesper Wallstedt got the start in goal for Minnesota — his first since Oct. 26 at home versus San Jose — and made 25 saves in the win as the Wild improved to 6-7-3 overall.

Vinnie Hinostroza, Danila Yurov, Brock Faber and Marco Rossi scored for the Wild in the win, coming 24 hours after they had led two leads slip away in a loss at Carolina.

After Minnesota killed the game’s first penalty, they found the back of the net with their first shot on goal. Jonas Brodin saw Hinostroza cutting hard to the Islanders’ net. Brodin’s pass caught Hinostroza perfectly in stride for a tap-in. It was Hinostroza’s second goal of the season.

Marcus Johansson had the secondary assist on the goal, extending his career-best point streak to 10 games.

Yurov, back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch in the previous three games, was back on the fourth line with Yakov Trenin and Marcus Foligno. Later in the first, that trio had a scrappy shift in front of the Islanders’ crease, which ended with Yurov finding a gap in the armor for his second career goal. Foligno assisted on the goal for his first point of the season.

New York got on the board five minutes into the middle frame when they caught the Wild goalie moving laterally and Emil Heineman scored. But Faber answered with his second goal in as many games just over a minute later. Then Rossi scored on a breakaway after a long-distance setup from Kaprizov, and the Wild led 4-1 before the game had reached its midway point.

When it was all over, they were still raving about the Zuccarello to Kaprizov combination, which cashed in via a takeaway, a no-look between the legs drop pass, a return pass and a one-timer that left the Islanders goalie bewildered.

“I knew exactly where it was going,” Hynes said. “But how it happens that quick and the execution is impressive.”

David Rittich, making his sixth start of the season for New York, had 21 saves in the loss.

The Islanders make their only visit to St. Paul this season on Jan. 10.

The Wild get Saturday off before starting a five-game homestand, which begins Sunday night with the Calgary Flames visiting Grand Casino Arena.

Related Articles

Wild expect a boost from Mats Zuccarello’s return

Missed opportunity for Wild as Hurricanes storm back

First opportunity for Daemon Hunt in his return to the Wild

The story behind the whacky goal that won the Wild a game

A game ‘like a fruit salad’ gives Wild their first win streak