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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Malcolm Hill made sure Illinois didnt step off the gas pedal Friday night so that the Illini could took care of business against Detroit Mercy, 89-69.The senior, who scored 25 points, led his team to a quick start after the intermission, when his team was up 39-30 and it seemed like the Titans would close the gap even more.Im always in an aggressive attack more, but this was one of those games where I needed to start strong in the second half, Hill said.Illinois (4-0) continued its strong start to the season in the opening game of the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament.The Illini had little trouble scoring, shooting 27of 52 from the field and 8 of 19 from 3-point range. Friday marked the second straight game the Illini had difficulty shooting from the free throw line however, finishing 27of 38.Tracy Abrams continued to have a strong return to basketball, scoring 15 points and finishing with four rebounds, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range.Groce knows the importance a balanced offense can have on his team.If you can have a balance of paint touches with that outside shooting, it puts opponents in dilemmas, Groce said.Detroit Mercy (1-2) had trouble keeping up with Illinois fast offensive pace from the start of the game. The Titans never led.Josh McFolley and Jaleel Hogan both led the way with 16 points for a team that finished shooting 43 percent from the field and 24 percent from beyond the arc.The Titans fell behind in most categories against the Illini, but Detroit Mercy head coach Bacari Alexander felt Illinois won the game down in the post, where the Illini won the rebound battle 39-29.They took advantage of those opportunities (in the post), Alexander said. (But) I like the direction this team is going in.BIG PICTUREIllinois: The Illini have played as they should against the type of opponents theyve faced so far this year. The team has one game left against relatively easy competition before facing No. 19 West Virginia at the Barclays Center in New York.Detroit Mercy: Although the game was never really close after the first few minutes, the Titans found some scoring opportunities and will need to continue to do that in the rest of the tournament.ROLE PLAYERGroce thought bench player D.J. Williams had his best overall performance of the year. The sophomore wing scored six points.LETDOWNAfter a strong start to the season, center Maverick Morgan had his worst night of the season, finishing with six points and zero rebounds and fouling out with more than five minutes left in the game.UP NEXTIllinois will continue play in the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament when it hosts Winthrop in Champaign on Monday.Detroit Mercy will try to bounce back Monday when it travels to Florida State to play its second game in the NIT Season Tip-Off.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org Juan Thornhill Youth Jersey . LOUIS -- Theres no telling how these wacky World Series games will end. Tony Gonzalez Youth Jersey . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. http://www.thechiefsshoponline.com/Youth-Larry-Johnson-Chiefs-Jersey/ . But what about the officials? Every sport has officials and they also have stories about hard work and sacrifice but their accomplishments are seldom recognized by anyone outside their inner circle. Juan Thornhill Jersey . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. Len Dawson Chiefs Jersey . They were putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display.Xherdan Shaqiri is fit to return for Stoke against Bournemouth this weekend. A hamstring injury sidelined the Switzerland midfielder for Citys trip to West Ham before the international break, but he will be available along with Marko Arnautovic, who has served a ban.Mark Hughes does have injury concerns ahead of Saturday, though, with Geoff Cameron still sidelined and Glenn Whelan struggling with a hamstring problem during the Republic of Irelands win in Austria. As always with Glenn hes always going to give himself the best opportunity to play, Hughes told the club website. Six months half price Upgrade to Sky Sports to watch Man Utd v Arsenal on Saturday and get the first six months half price Its a concern because he hasnt really got much time to recover you would have thought - and with anybody else youd say they were definitely out. Hopefully as its him hell be okay but as it stands at present, hes a doubt. Glenn doesnt come off unless hes got a real issue and cant perform at the level he knows hes capable of. He did the right thing by coming off early and hopefully that will allow him to play at the weekend. West Ham 1-1 Stoke Shaq is fine but Geoff, unfortunately, wont be available as he has had a little bit of an issue with the knee that needed calming down.dddddddddddd. Were doing what we usually do with those type of injuries and trying to get him up to speed but weve been told that he just needs to rest a little longer.Upgrade to Sky Sports now to watch Man Utd v Arsenal this Saturday and get the first six months half price! Also See: Stoke grab a point Boss hails Bojan Stoke stats Get a ￡10 free bet! ' ' '