Grace Grocholski led the way with 16 points, Mallory Heyer had 13 points and a team-high 12 rebounds and Minnesota beat North Dakota State 69-65 at Williams Arena in the round of 16 of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Friday night.

Amaya Battle scored 11 points and Sophie Hart added 10 as the Gophers survived a late rally by the Bison to earn their third win in the tournament. The Gophers will play the winner of the South Dakota-Wyoming game in the quarterfinals.

Minnesota led much of the first three quarters and took a 53-38 lead with 2:25 left in the third. A 14-point advantage to start the fourth was quickly whittled away by North Dakota State. The Bison scored 13 straight points to start the fourth and led 65-62 with 2:18 remaining.

Battle knocked down a pair of jump shots to put the Gophers back in front, and Niamya Holloway made a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left as Minnesota scored the final seven points of the game.

It’s the second win against North Dakota State this season for the Gophers, who won 75-73 at Williams Arena in November.

Elle Evans had 18 points for the Bison and Miriley Simon scored 12 off the bench.

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Gophers freshman forward Kris Keinys has entered the NCAA transfer portal, a source confirmed to the Pioneer Press on Friday.

Minnesota now has five players from last year’s roster exiting the program: one starter (rising junior center Pharrel Payne) and four reserves. This means head coach Ben Johnson has had at least five players depart in each of his three offseason.

But Keinys played the fewest minutes of any portal entrant. The 6-foot-8 from Klaipeda, Lithuania, saw a total of 21 minutes over five games last season.

The U’s five open roster spots are now available for Johnson and staff to sign players out of the free agent database.

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When a theater work has reached the age of 27, producers sometimes find it’s best to “re-imagine” and rebrand the piece, give it some new spin that will renew audience interest. Kind of a 2.0 scenario.

And then there’s “The Lion King.” After spending the summer of 1997 being crafted and polished at Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre, it headed off to Broadway to make history as the highest-grossing musical in theater history, the Great White Way’s third-longest run still growing by the day.

Now it’s returned to its place of birth at the Orpheum for a month-long residency. And, if you’re among the million-plus who’ve experienced it, rest assured that the producers have wisely seen no point in re-imagining what is already the most imaginative piece of musical theater ever created. It’s as wow-inducing as ever, overflowing with astounding staging ideas, its high-energy cast delivering the tuneful tale with affection and enthusiasm.

Gerald Ramsey as Mufasa in the North American touring production of “The Lion King,” which is being presented at Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre through April 28, 2024. (Matthew Murphy / Disney)

While it keeps the same plot and characters as Disney’s 1994 animated feature (and 2019 remake), Disney brought a genius into its midst with director-designer Julie Taymor. Already known for amazing theater audiences with captivating costuming and puppetry, Taymor decided to take what was basically a European royal succession story set in Africa, and really lean into the African-ness of it.

While Elton John and Tim Rice are listed as principal composers, South Africa’s Lebo M leaves the far more indelible imprint on the stage version with songs and chants in five African languages that transport audiences to a fantastical take on the Serengeti. As do Taymor’s brilliant costumes, masks and puppets, all respectfully rooted in African tradition.

Your immersion in this setting is aided by an ample arsenal of percussion instruments jutting outward from the edge of the proscenium and a menagerie of life-sized animal puppets streaming down the aisles, the actors within and beneath them singing out in uniquely African harmonies. (Don’t be late for the start of either act or you’ll miss the magic.)

They frame the story of Young Simba, who’s very much in the same Disney mold of anthropomorphized animal youth as Bambi and Dumbo. Meanwhile, the Shakespearean-ness of an evil brother seeking the throne is underlined by said sibling having an English accent (while his brother doesn’t). And the comic relief provided by a gaseous warthog and a meerkat seemingly from New Jersey is largely untouched from the film.

Not many touring productions come to town with a cast of 52, but everyone feels essential in this one as they repeatedly exchange one of Taymor’s wildly imaginative costumes for another.

Among the leads making a strong impression on opening night were Julian Villela as a playfully engaging young Simba (he alternates performances with Mason Lawson) and Gerald Ramsey as his believably affectionate father, exuding nobility and athletic grace. Skillfully balancing the comic and creepy is Peter Hargrave’s Scar, while a pair of Nicks (LaMedica and Cordileone) ably carry the comedy as royal assistant Zazu and meerkat sidekick Timon, respectively.

Acting as a welcoming master of ceremonies is Mukelisiwe Goba as the mandrill shaman, Rafiki, who never lets you feel that you’ve strayed too far from Africa. And that’s an essential element to what makes this such a thrilling night at the theater.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

‘The Lion King’

When: Through April 28

Where: Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis

Tickets: $199-$39, available at hennepintheatretrust.org

Capsule: The most imaginative of musicals is as exciting as ever.

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In an interview with Sportico, Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez said Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor showed “complete and utter disregard for the contract” when he put out a statement Thursday saying the team was no longer for sale.

“We’re going to be the owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves,” Lore told Sportico on Friday. “It’s just a matter of time, and how much pain Glen wants to put the fans, the players, the town and community through. It’s his choice. It didn’t have to be this way.”

Taylor said because Lore and Rodriguez didn’t have the money to complete the final portion of the deal that would’ve made the duo controlling owners by March 27, the deal was off.

“We reminded them that we needed the material, the NBA reminded them that they needed the material,” Taylor told the Pioneer Press, “and they didn’t really do it.”

Lore and Rodriguez said they did have the money and had submitted their commitments on March 21 — six days ahead of the deadline — and simply needed to wait for NBA protocols to run their course. The duo reportedly added Blue Owl Capital’s Blue Owl HomeCourt as a partner in the deal last week.

“We have fulfilled our obligations, and have all necessary funding and are fully committed to closing our purchase of the team as soon as the NBA completes its approval process,” Lore and Rodriguez said in a statement Thursday. “Glen Taylor’s statement is an unfortunate case of seller’s remorse that is short-sighted and disruptive to the team and the fans during a historic winning season.”

There is a clause in the original purchase agreement that notes an automatic triggering of a 90-day extension for the NBA to complete its approval process.

Thursday’s Timberwolves statement read: “Under certain circumstances, Lore and Rodriguez could have been entitled to a limited extension. However, those circumstances did not occur.”

Taylor assumed legal recourse from Lore and Rodriguez was a possibility.

“I’ve never sued anyone; I’ve never been sued,” Lore told Sportico, “but we’re dealing with someone that is very comfortable operating that way, and we have to take whatever actions are necessary to protect our childhood dream here.”

The deal was originally agreed to at a $1.5 billion purchase price in 2021, with a payment plan in place to play out over the following two-plus years. At the time, that appeared to be a low price for an NBA franchise. Rodriguez and Lore currently own 36 percent of the team.

Taylor assumed Lore and Rodriguez would remain on as limited partners. Sportico currently values the franchise at $3 billion.

“Because they bought in at a very favorable price, which is smart of them that they did it, and I agreed to it,” he said. “So, to me, they should probably keep their investment. I think it’s a really good investment.”

Lore and Rodriguez told Sportico that Taylor told team leadership to not speak with the tandem.

Taylor said the partnership hasn’t gone the way he believed it would when the agreement was reached in 2021, noting Lore has been immersed in his food service company, Wonder — “so he’s kind of excluded himself” — and Rodriguez was “not inclined to get involved in a lot of these things, business-wise.”

“I just thought maybe they’d get more involved, and they chose not to. That was fine with me,” Taylor said. “I’m used to making the decisions. So it didn’t turn out maybe the way I thought it was going to be, but I don’t feel bad about it, because I love making the decisions.”

Taylor has had final say on all team decisions over the past three years, but Lore and Rodriguez were integral in bringing in president of basketball operations Tim Connelly. They also created a new owner’s suite in the back hallways of Target Center near the home team locker room where Lore and Rodriguez often reside pregame.

“I mean, that was more of their priority that they had that room than, ‘Who are we trading for?’” Taylor told The Athletic.

“Think about it from our end: If we had an ironclad agreement, like we do, would we be talking about how Marc and Alex are more worried about the owner’s suite than making real (basketball) trades?” Rodriguez told Sportico. “It’s so … childish. But you only do that when you don’t have any ground to sit on.”