Morning Box Score

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Dec 9, 2009 4:00PM

Bulls Slide Continues
Already losers of seven of their last eight, we called Sunday's blowout loss to the Raptors, including their ridiculous lack of tenacity, the Bulls new nadir. We were wrong: it got worse. Last night, the Bulls lost to the league's worst team, the New Jersey Nets by a 103-101 final, giving the Nets only their second win on the year. The final could have been worse as the Bulls were down by 10 going into the fourth but rallied to make things interesting. Still, when you're locked in a back-and-forth battle at home with a 1-18 team...ugh. Luol Deng and Derrick Rose both scored 27 points, with Rose reaching a double-double thanks to 10 assists in the losing effort. Coach Vinny try to remain upbeat, saying, "You keep playing. There are lots of games left. You keep fighting and keep scrapping and find a way to keep yourself in games." He's right; there are 63 games left in the season for the Bulls turn it around. We're just guessing he won't be coaching the team for a majority of it. The Bulls won't have much time to rebound as they play tonight in Atlanta (6 p.m., CSN+/ESPN).

Illini Upset Vandy
Hoping to return to the top 25, Illinois helped their own cause by upsetting #24 Vanderbilt 79-68. The Illini got rolling to a 10-point halftime lead and never looked back. Demetri McCamey led all scorers with 23 points while D.J. Richardson added 16 and Mike Tisdale had 14.