Morning Box Score

Bulls Bag Bucks
The shorthanded Chicago Bulls won a shootout in Milwaukee Wednesday night, beating the Bucks 113-104. With the departure of teammates Drew Gooden and Andres Nocioni earlier in the day, Kirk Hinrich made his case to stick around (or perhaps upped his trade value) with a 31-point performance, including 18 in the fourth quarter. Milwaukee had its opportunities, securing 13 more offensive rebounds than Chicago, but had difficulty converting those second chances into points. The new-look Bulls will play Denver at the UC Friday night; just how new will be finalized by the trade deadline this afternoon.

College Basketball
No. 16 Illinois lost an ugly one to the Penn State Nittany Lions, 38-33, recording its lowest point total in over 50 years.

Northwestern edged the Ohio State Buckeyes, 72-69, on a John Shurna three-pointer with three seconds left to play.

Notre Dame was soundly defeated by the West Virginia Mountaineers, 79-68, as the Irish grabbed only five offensive rebounds in the contest.

Loyola cruised past the Detroit Titans, 67-41, forcing 23 turnovers and never trailing in the contest.

UIC pulled away from the Wright State Raiders in overtime, 77-66, after Josh Mayo drilled a three to tie it in the final seconds of regulation.

NIU fell to the Central Michigan Chippewas, 63-44, committing 17 turnovers and shooting just 50 percent from the charity stripe.