Gophers defenseman Mike Reilly won the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

The junior from Chanhassen leads all college hockey defensemen with a career-high 42 points and 36 assists, and he is the first defenseman to lead the team in scoring since 1996-97.

Reilly, who was named first-team All-Big Ten, also leads the conference with 21 power-play points and has a plus-23 rating. His 36 assists are tied for second most among all NCAA skaters.

"It's a real honor to be recognized by the Big Ten coaches and voters, but the important thing for us is to keep our focus on taking care of business this weekend in Detroit," Reilly said.

Senior forwards Kyle Rau and Travis Boyd and junior goaltender Adam Wilcox earned second-team honors. Junior defenseman Brady Skjei was honorable mention.

The Big Ten Player of the Year is a goaltender for the second straight season: Michigan State's Jake Hildebrand. Michigan's Dylan Larkin was voted Freshman of the Year.

Penn State's Guy Gadowsky earned Coach of the Year honors after leading the Nittany Lions to 10 Big Ten victories.

• A pair of wins and a Big Ten regular-season championship jumped the Gophers two spots to No. 13 in Monday's USCHO poll. The Gophers are also 13th in the PairWise Rankings, which mimics the formula that the NCAA committee uses to select its 16-team tournament field. North Dakota, Minnesota State Mankato, Boston University, Michigan Tech and Denver fill out the top five spots in the USCHO poll.

JASON GONZALEZ

AP honors Anim

DeLaSalle senior Sacar Anim was chosen the Minnesota Associated Press Player of the Year in boys' basketball.

Champlin Park's J.T. Gibson, Hill-Murray's Marshawn Wilson, Bjorn Broman of Lakeview Christian Academy in Duluth and Gary Trent Jr. of Apple Valley joined Anim on the AP all-state team.

The 6-5 Anim averaged 24 points per game and helped lead DeLaSalle to a record-tying fourth consecutive state championship with a victory over St. Paul Johnson in the 3A final.

U baseball loses to VCU

Host Virginia Commonwealth scored nine runs in the seventh inning to rally from a four-run deficit and beat the Gophers baseball team 11-4 Monday in Richmond, Va.

The Gophers (6-9) led 4-0 through 6½ innings on two-run homers by Tony Skjefte and Alex Boxwell, but VCU (9-6) took advantage of two Gophers errors, three walks and two wild pitches in the seventh for their big inning. Jimmy Kerrigan had a single and a two-run homer in the inning for the Rams.

The Gophers will play the University of Richmond on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Etc.

• Gophers sophomore Sara Groenewegen was named Big Ten softball pitcher of the week for the third time this year. The 2014 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year went 3-0 with a 0.64 ERA. She pitched three complete games and improved to 14-2, matching the victory total from last season.

• Northern State of Aberdeen, S.D., announced the suspension of its wrestling program for the next two seasons, citing an inability "to remain competitive in the NSIC, maintain an adequate roster level, and provide our student-athletes with a high-quality experience," according to university President James Smith.

• MIAC teams won four championships in NCAA Division III Indoor track and field championships over the weekend in Winston-Salem, N.C. Concordia's Cherae Reeves won the women's shot put (48 feet, 3¼ inches); Paul Escher of St. Olaf won the mile in 4:10.19 and Oles teammate Jake Campbell won the 3,000 meters in 8:10:55, and St. Thomas won the women's distance medley relay in 11:45.26.