Hilfestellungen » over the Indiana Fever on Friday night.The Lynx (2

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.orgNike Huarache Ale .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Air Force One Suomi . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. http://www.airforce1suomi.com/air-force-1-mid-kengat.html . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. Nike Air Force 1 07 Ale . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. Nike Air Force 1 Low Miehet . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187.INDIANAPOLIS -- Maya Moore scored 11 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter to help the Minnesota Lynx pull away for an 82-75 victory over the Indiana Fever on Friday night.The Lynx (27-6) had already locked up home-court advantage throughout the postseason, and they have won 12 of their past 14 and 12 straight against the playoff-bound Fever (16-17).Indianas Tamika Catchings, who announced she will retire after the season, had 11 points and four rebounds to stretch her career total to 3,309 and become thee WNBA career leading rebounder.dddddddddddd Marissa Coleman scored 19 points to lead the Fever, and Briann January added eight points to reach 2,000 for her career.The Lynx had a 59-58 lead midway through the fourth quarter when Janel McCarville hit a 17-foot jumper, sparking a 21-9 run to give the Lynx an 80-66 lead with 3:15 remaining. Moore scored 11 points during the span. ' ' '