Morning Box Score
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jan 3, 2010 4:40PM
Bulls Dust Magic
Don't look now but the Bulls have won four in a row after dusting Orland 101-93 last night. Derrick Rose led the Bulls with a solid 30-6-7, three other Bulls starters - Deng (14), Noah (10), and Hinrich (11) - scored in double figures and John Salmons scored 15 off the bench. The Bulls found themselves down by eight halfway through the second but went on a 15-2 run to the end the half up by four and started the second half on an 11-2 run to extend the lead. A 10-0 Orlando run in the fourth cut the lead to 5 and the Magic found themselves within 3 with less than 30 seconds to go but the Bulls hit 5 of 6 free throws to put the game away. Also put away - for now? Talk of Coach Vinny being canned. But, rest assured, we'll hear something at the next rough patch for the team. But the Bulls hope to avoid that when they welcome the OKC Thunder tomorrow night (7 p.m., CSN).
'Hawks Double Up Blues
The Blackhawks were locked in a back-and-forth game early but pulled away for a 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. The 'Hawks and Blues exchanged goals in the first with Tomas Kopecky scoring both 'Hawks goals and the teams were tied 2-2 at the first intermission. The 'Hawks than rattled off four straight goals: Brian Campbell and Kris Versteeg scored in the second period and Patrick Sharp netted a pair of goals in the opening minutes of the third - one at full-strength and the next on a power play - to extend the 'Hawks lead to 6-2. The Blues managed a late goal to cut the lead to 6-3 but got no closer. It was a chippy, physical game that saw two misconduct penalties, nine majors, and 24 penalties overall. Huet got the win for the 'Hawks, stopping 19 of 22 shots he faced. The 'Hawks try to keep rolling with a game against Anaheim tonight at the United Center (6 p.m., WGN).
USF Rolls Over NIU In International Bowl
The teams were tied 3-3 at the half but USF rallied in the second half to roll over the NIU Huskies 27-3 in the International Bowl. The Huskies certainly missed Me'co Brown as they only gained 238 yards of total offense in the game. QB Chandler Harnish was 12 of 25 for 130 yards and an interception for NIU. The lone bright spot was RB Chad Spann who eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing for the season with 93 yards on the ground. The Huskies finished the year 7-6 and are slated to open the 2010 season on September 4 at Iowa State.
College Hoops
Illinois found themselves trailing by as many as 21 to No. 22 Gonzaga before rallying to force overtime where they eventually fell 85-83...Northwestern lost their second straight game as Michigan State tamed the 'Cats 91-70...No. 10 UCONN breezed past Notre Dame 82-70...NIU dispatched North Dakota 66-45...Detroit beat Loyola 59-42...Wright State doused the Flames of UIC 64-47.