The Gopher men's basketball team host Virginia Tech at 8:15pm tonight, pregame on AM 1390-the Fan, as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.  Minnesota is 6-1 while Virginia Tech is 5-1.  The Gophers will play tonight without top scorer and rebounder Trevor Mbakwe who is out of for the the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.  Minnesota also may not have their starting center, Ralph Sampson III.  He hasn't practice all week because of an ankle injury.

The Gophers are expected to play Rodney Williams more at power forward starting tonight because of the loss of Mbakwe.  Julian Welch is expected to be inserted in to the starting lineup moving Andre Hollins to the 2-guard spot and Austin Hollins to the small forward position.

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