Termine » The Patriots didnt start anyone over 6-foo

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 Ultra Boost Cheap Real . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. Cheap Ultra Boost China .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. http://www.discountultraboost.com/ . Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front. Discount Ultra Boost . Nine days before the opening ceremony, organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is "fully ready" and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations. Cheap Ultra Boost Clearance . The parade and rally were held to celebrate the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the CFLs championship game. STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The cheers reverberating from George Masons locker room came from players experiencing their hottest streak in years. The quiet from Penn States mirrored the whimper of the Nittany Lions in the second half as their run was snapped.Marquise Moore scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Otis Livingston added 18 points and the Patriots beat Penn State 85-66 for their sixth straight win and best stretch since 2011-12 on Wednesday.It was a great win for our team, really proud of our guys, George Mason coach Dave Paulsen said. We really, really competed with toughness in the second half, especially I think our second-half defense was really good.Jalen Jenkins added 15 points for the Patriots (7-3) who snapped Penn States four-game winning streak.Penn State led 38-37 after a wild first half that featured 12 lead changes. But the Raiders took control starting with Livingstons 3-pointer that made it 42-40 early in the second. They dominated from there, leading for the remaining 18:58 and outrebounded the Nittany Lions 44-29, outscored them 44-16 in the paint and held a speedy Penn State team to just two fastbreak points.We looked young tonight for whatever reason, Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. We have to figure that out. We have to play much harder.Payton Banks led Penn State (6-4) with 21 points. Shep Garner and Lamar Stevens chipped in 13 apiece for the Nittany Lions.THE BIG PICTUREGeorge Mason: The Patriots are on a roll and keeping pace in a competitive Atlantic 10 conference that had five teams with six wins entering the night. They seem to have flipped a switch following a 93-65 loss to Houston on Nov. 21 and havent lost since.Penn State: The Nittany Lions had been winning despite deficiencies in a few areas while making up for them in others over the last four games.dddddddddddd They werent able to make up for their lack of production in the paint, however.GUARDS ON THE GLASSPaulsen was wary of the size advantage Penn States forwards had heading in. The Patriots didnt start anyone over 6-foot-7 while Penn State boasted a trio of forwards at or taller than that. Paulsen was particularly concerned about 6-foot-9 Mike Watkins who was fresh off his best game where he blocked 12 shots against Wright State.But the George Mason coach had faith in his guards ability to attack the net and win those rebounds. Moore entered the game as the countrys top rebounding guard with 10 per game and posted his sixth double-double of the season.We have some pretty good rebounding guards, Paulsen said. So you cant do it unless you have really active, rebounding guards.VETERAN RESPONSIBILITYPenn States gotten big time contributions from a handful of freshmen and started three as usual. But it was one of the veterans who shouldered blame afterward.Banks was dejected after the game and pointed the finger at himself. Despite leading the team in points, he wasnt able to help on the glass.A lot of it just starts with me right here, Banks said. I had zero rebounds. We cant rely on Lamar (Miller) and Mike for the scoring load and Julian (Moore). Our guards have to rebound and thats what we lacked this game and it definitely showed on the scoreboard.UP NEXTGeorge Mason plays at Penn on Saturday and has three of their final five games in 2016 at home.Penn State plays Pittsburgh in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday and has another on the road before closing out 2016 with a pair of games at home, including the Big Ten opener on Dec. 27. 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