Morning Box Score

By Matt Motyka in News on Feb 25, 2009 4:20PM

Bulls Upstage Magic
The Chicago Bulls earned an impressive victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday, 120-102. Chicago, leading by seven with seven to play, recorded eight-straight from the free-throw line to ignite a 13-2 scoring run and put the game away. The Bulls were a clutch 20 of 22 from the charity stripe and shot better than 56 percent from the field. Coach Del Negro spread the wealth, with no player seeing more than three quarters of court time, and nine Bulls playing 20 minutes or more. Derrick Rose led Chicago with 22 points, while six other Bulls reached double figures in scoring.

Predators Drop ‘Hawks
The Blackhawks suffered a 5-3 defeat Tuesday night, as the Nashville Predators snatched one away. The ‘Hawks entered the third period with a seemingly-safe 3-1 advantage, thanks to a barrage of goals from Dustin Byfuglien, Martin Havlat and Patrick Kane in the second. Easy come, easy go, however, as Nashville scored four times on 11 shots in the final period and Chicago came up empty. ‘Hawks goalie Cristobal Huet was saddled with the loss, after allowing only three goals in the last three games. The Predators could be heard laughing demonically as they left the arena.

College Basketball
Chicago State fell on the road to the Utah Valley Wolverines, 77-72. The lead see-sawed 14 times in this one, but the Cougars were on the wrong side of the fulcrum when time expired. Chicago State didn’t shoot particularly well at 36 percent, the figure dragged down by 18 missed three-point attempts. David Holston scored 30 for the Cougars and Carl Montgomery had a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards. Chicago State closes the regular season with two games at home, giving area residents a last chance to see the 5-foot-8 national scoring leader in action at the collegiate level.

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast