Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is expected to play in the team’s spring training opener on Saturday. The All-Star was limited to just 47 games last year before groin surgery cost him the rest of the season. He has been working out each day of the spring and ran the bases at full speed on Thursday, showing he was prepared for game action. The Rockies will have a full intersquad scrimmage today before they open the Cactus League schedule Saturday against Arizona.

The newly-ranked Husker women’s basketball team takes the hardwood for the first time in a week tonight. They’ll hope to extend their winning streak to eight games as the face Michigan in Ann Arbor. Nebraska re-entered the AP Top 25 poll at number 24 this week on the strength of their current streak. The seven wins on the bounce is the second-longest conference winning streak in school history, behind only the team that went unbeaten in Big 12 play back in 2010. The Wolverines are just one game back of the Huskers in the Big Ten standings, having won three straight games of their own. Nebraska is 6-1 against Michigan all time, but that one loss was their first game as Big Ten foes last February in Lincoln. Tipoff tonight at Crisler Arena is set for 6 PM.

The Nebraska football team has made a scholarship offer to the son of royalty… hip-hop royalty. The Huskers extended an offer to cornerback Naijiel Hale, from Bellflower, California. Naijiel’s father is the late Nathaniel Hale, better known as Nate Dogg, the voice behind the hooks on countless rap and R&B hits, most notably the 1994 smash ‘Regulate’ with Warren G. Naijiel Hale also claims offers from Arizona, California and Boise State.

Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton will sit out the first handful of spring training games. The 39 year-old had surgery to repair his right hip last August. Though Helton says he feels ‘fine’ and has been participating in all drills, manager Walt Weiss says he wants to take it easy on the veteran early in the spring. Weiss says he’ll also keep 38 year-old closer Rafael Betancourt out of game action for a few games as well. The Rockies open their Cactus League schedule Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In anticipation of a major mid-week storm, Nebraska and Iowa have rescheduled their men’s basketball game. The Huskers and Hawkeyes were supposed to play on Thursday night, but with the potential of a foot or more of snow, the two teams will wait out the nasty weather and play on Saturday afternoon instead. The game will tip off at 1 PM at the Devaney Center. For now, the Husker women’s basketball game at Michigan scheduled for Thursday night remains unchanged.

The Denver Nuggets opened the second half of the NBA season with a bang, defeating the Boston Celtics 97-90 in a rugged contest at Pepsi Center. The Nuggets outrebounded the Celtics 46-39 and held Paul Pierce to 10 points and 2-for-14 shooting on the night. Offensively, Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson each scored 26 points to lead the way to the win. The victory snapped a three-game losing skid for the Nuggets, who are 34-21 on the season. They visit the Washington Wizards on Friday.