Coby White scored 26 points and the Chicago Bulls held the Utah Jazz scoreless for a 5 1/2-minute stretch of the fourth quarter to earn a 111-97 victory on Monday in Salt Lake City.
Tre Jones added 18 points, 12 assists and three steals, Kevin Huerter and Matas Buzelis each totaled 17 points and nine rebounds, and Nikola Vucevic had 10 points and 10 boards to lift the Bulls (29-39) to their fifth win in six games.
Former Bulls player Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George each scored 16 for Utah, but the Jazz (15-54) saw their losing streak increase to 10.
Utah, which fall at Minnesota on Sunday, had a particularly rough night shooting from 3-point range. The Jazz only made 9 of 42 beyond the arc (21.4 percent), with Markkanen hitting just 1 of 8 and Walker Kessler and Kyle Filipowski combining to miss all nine deep attempts.
Jordan Clarkson (14 points) and Brice Sensabaugh (13 points) were the only other Jazz players to reach double figures. Utah shot 40.7 percent from the field overall.
The Jazz didn’t score for the first three minutes of the game. Huerter sparked a game-opening 10-0 run for the Bulls with a layup, and White and Huerter soon added 3-pointers.
Chicago went up by as many as 13 points in the first quarter.
Utah opened the second quarter on a tear, outscoring the Bulls 14-4 to take their first lead, 36-35, on a Sensabaugh 3-pointer. Clarkson scored seven points in that spurt.
Chicago turned it on in the third quarter, going on a 20-6 surge to nab a 14-point lead. A basket from White capped the spree.
Utah pulled within 97-93 in the fourth quarter after an 11-2 run, including five points from Sensabaugh.
After the layup by Filipowski with 6:51 remaining that made it a four-point game, the Jazz didn’t score again until Filipowski made a bucket with 1:15 to go.
In the meantime, the Bulls clinched the victory by scoring 12 straight, including a pair of baskets apiece from Jones and Vucevic.
–Field Level Media
St. John’s is the sixth different program Rick Pitino has guided to an NCAA Tournament — so the Basketball Hall of Famer knows better than to get caught looking ahead….
Washington Wizards forward Corey Kispert will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on Tuesday to repair a ligament tear in his left thumb. Per the Wizards, Kispert…
UCLA’s signature defense will be put to the test when the No. 7-seed Bruins take on No. 10 Utah State in a first-round matchup of the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region…
Wizards’ Corey Kispert has thumb surgery, out for season
Retooled UCLA out to put clamps on Utah State
No. 11 seed Drake done waiting, dialed in for Missouri
Tennessee ‘locked in’ for first-round fight with No. 15 seed Wofford
Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM
