Morning Box Score
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Dec 29, 2008 3:50PM
Blackhawks Continue Winning Ways
The Blackhawks' December to Remember continues as they notched their ninth straight victory last night by beating the Minnesota Wild 4-1. Dustin Byfuglien had a pair of first period goals and Martin Havlat and Kris Versteeg added to the tally. Huet looked sharp in goal for the 'Hawks, stopping 13 of 14 shots. Jonathan Toews explained the 'Hawks state of mind thusly: "We're kind of feeling like the Boston Celtics...There's just a sense of calmness. I think any other team would be excited to be in this situation, and sometimes when you have that momentum you get a little overexcited. We just need to keep our sticks on the ice and keep it simple. We don't overskate or overdo anything out there." The Blackhawks travel to Detroit for a game tomorrow night and then welcome the Red Wings to Wrigley on Thursday for the NHL's much-hyped Winter Classic.
NIU Downed In Independence Bowl
We can think of nowhere lovelier than Shreveport, Louisiana to spend a post-holiday weekend. For NIU, though, it wasn't so nice as they fell to Louisiana Tech 17-10 in the Independence Bowl. NIU got off to an early 7-0 lead thanks to an 8-yard Chandler Harnish TD pass, but Tech's Phillip Livas returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. A bad punt later in the second quarter gave Tech excellent field position for their second touchdown. In spite of Tech's overall offensive struggles throughout the game, NIU gave the ball away on three turnovers and committed 14 penalties for 140 yards, mistakes that kept them from getting back in the game. NIU finished 6-7 on the year.
Bears Done For the Season
The Bears took an early lead over the Houston Texans but ultimately lost the game and their shot at the playoffs, 31-24. We'll have a full recap in a bit.
College Basketball
Illinois got 25 points from Mike Tisdale en route to a 62-53 victory over Eastern Michigan.
Dar Tucker had 25 and Mac Koshwal had 19 as DePaul romped over Acorn State 90-67.
AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid