Morning Box Score
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Dec 7, 2008 5:15PM
Red Wings Edged Blackhawks in Shootout
In a game that surely gave Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley fits, the Blackhawks overcame an early two-goal deficit and then gave up a two-goal lead of their own en route to a 5-4 shootout loss to rival Detroit. Less than five minutes in, the Red Wings were up 2-0 but the 'Hawks stormed back for three goals to finish the period, including two from Jonathan Toews. The Blackhawks then scored the only goal of the second period to take a 4-2 lead but watched it slip away as the Red Wings scored a pair of goals in the third to push the game to overtime. Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk scored the only goal in the shootout to clinch the victory for Detroit. Defenseman Brent Seabrook said afterward, "It's frustrating. We need to shore that up. We need to be better with the puck."
Bulls Whip Wizards
Luol Deng led the Bulls with 26 points to pace the team past the Washington Wizards, 117-110. Deng has struggled with a hamstring injury and poor shooting recently, but remained confident in his ability to shake it off, saying, "I always have my confidence. Just some games I was struggling out there. What I got to do is be more aggressive more often even when the shot is not falling try to stay with it. I was slowed down with the injury a little bit, but now I'm feeling better.'' Larry Hughes added 24 off the bench for the Bulls, Ben Gordon added 21 and Derrick Rose continues to impress us with his excellent rookie season, scoring 15 points and dishing 8 assists. While he gives us hope, we're a quarter of the way through the season and while the Bulls are currently in the 8th playoff spot, they're sill under .500 at 9-11.
College Basketball
NIU defeated Chicago State 93-81 to kickoff a weekend of crosstown hoops. The Cougars were not afraid to let it fly, attempting 31 three-pointers but hitting only nine. The Huskies took most of their shots from shorter range, and the strategy paid off as they converted a whopping 61 percent. State's David Holston and NIU's Darion Anderson each had 32-point outings, but Sean Kowal's supplemental 23 put the Huskies over the top.
The Northwestern Wildcats palindromed the DePaul Blue Demons, 63-36. Northwestern scored the first seven points of the game, and never let DePaul back within reach. The Blue Demons actually held the advantage in field goal attempts, 58 to 56, but only made a meager 24.6% of them. Will Walker was an ice-cold zero for seven, and the Demons missed leading scorer Mac Koshwal who was out of the line-up with a foot injury. Kevin Coble notched 25 for the victorious Wildcats.
UIC earned a hard-fought, 83-69 victory against Loyola to open the Horizon League season Saturday night. In a game that saw eight lead changes, timely threes and solid free-throw shooting down the stretch made the difference for the Flames. Loyola's Justin Ceracoli led all in scoring with 24, including a half-court bomb to close out the first period. The dependable Josh Mayo had 22 for UIC as five Flames recorded 10-plus points.
Seventh-ranked Notre Dame stumbled against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, falling 67-62. Irish forward Luke Harangody contributed 25 points and looked to be in good health after missing the last two games with pneumonia. Stealing the spotlight, however, was the Buckeyes' Evan Turner. Turner drove the lane without hesitation, earning him an impressive 28 points. Notre Dame mounted a late surge, reducing a 10-point Buckeye lead to two in the final three minutes, but the Irish came up just short as they missed five of their last six attempts.
Illinois seized the United Center stage Saturday afternoon, thrashing the Georgia Bulldogs 76-42. The Illini enjoyed a +14 turnover margin, which severely limited the Bulldogs' scoring opportunities. Demetri McCamey lead the Illini with 19 points, while Mike Davis, Mike Tisdale and Dominique Keller each turned in double-digit performances. The city of Chicago has not been kind to the Georgia Bulldogs as of late, who suffered a 21-point loss to Loyola earlier in the season.
Additional reporting by Matt Motyka, AP Photo/Jerry S. Mendoza