Morning Box Score

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Dec 13, 2008 5:55PM

AP Photo/David Zalubowski

Memphis Blues
It was a homecoming of sorts for Derrick Rose on Friday night, as the Bulls suffered a 103-96 road loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. In a match up that pitted Rose, who played his one season of college ball at the University of Memphis, against fellow Rookie of the Month O.J. Mayo, it turned out to be the old guys who ran the show. Ben Gordon scored 18 of his 26 in the first quarter, driving the Bulls to an early 14-point lead. Gordon, however, got into foul trouble quickly, and the Grizzlies' Rudy Gay and Hakim Warrick put Memphis back into the mix. A 15-4 third-quarter run would be enough to put the game out of grasp, as Memphis hung on for its third consecutive vicory.

Back in Black
Speaking of homecomings, former Avalanche coach and player Joel Quenneville recorded a victory in his first return trip to Colorado, as the Blackhawks edged the Avalanche 4-3. Dustin Byfuglien scored a pleasantly-surprising pair, with Craig Adams and Andrew Ladd chipping in the other two. Byfuglien, who had only recorded three scores coming into the contest, got the game-winner with 6:09 left in the third. Nikolai Khabibulin was back in the net after missing six games with a groin injury, replacing the effective Cristobal Huet. The Avs were without star player Joe Sakic, who compounded his injury woes by sticking his hand in a snow-blower earlier that day. Ouch.

One more Blackhawks note: want to score Winter Classic tickets? Patrick Kane will be signing autographs and giving away 4 tickets at the Lincolnwood Town Center Verizon Wireless Store from 3-4 p.m. today.

--- By Matt Motyka