The Illinois men’s basketball team may have finally figured out its point guard situation. Head coach John Groce has plugged Malcolm Hill into several roles, and now he’s trying him as the floor general.

Groce, who now-famously called Hill “the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker” early in the season, has given his junior captain more responsibility as Illinois’ point guard in the past few games.

The experiment began against Northwestern. Hill posted a season-high eight assists and had the Illini in position to win in the final seconds.SO His role as the floor general was not as obvious against Rutgers and Wisconsin — he finished with three assists and one turnover in each of his those two contests — but Hill continues to establish Illinois’ tempo by pushing the ball down the floor every time he cleans the glass.

It didn’t take long for Hill to adapt his mindset to his expanded role.

“I wish I had a little more assists,” Hill said after Rutgers. “I kinda stopped with the ball. I had one turnover, but there were a couple times when there were dead balls — it would’ve been a turnover if there wasn’t a whistle. I’m trying to focus on my rebounds and assists.”

Without having to worry about getting the ball to another play-maker, Hill’s all-around game at the point meshes seamlessly with the downhill, fast-paced offense the Illini thrive in. It was apparent during last week’s blowout win over Rutgers that Hill’s knack for grabbing boards goes hand-in-hand with his passing vision and ability to run the open floor.

Groce did not envision having Hill start the offense, but liked the way Illinois buckets came quickly and easily whenever Hill nabbed a rebound, sprinted down the court and initiated the offense within the first few seconds of the shot clock. The do-it-all forward is averaging 10.4 rebounds over the last five games.

“(Hill) and I collectively are in charge of making sure we have quality possessions,” Groce said. “We’ve talked in great length and detail about how much we put on his plate. That role’s not perfected yet, we’ve still got somethings we’ve gotta work to improve upon, but I liked what I saw.”

With the added pressure of taking the reigns on offense, worries arose that Hill’s scoring would diminish, especially after posting seven points in his first game as the primary ball handler at Northwestern.

But he regained his scoring punch with 22 points against Rutgers and another 20-point outing in Sunday’s loss to Wisconsin.

The heightened play of guard Khalid Lewis has helped as well. With less pressure on Lewis to run the show, the graduate transfer had one of his better games of the season against Rutgers — he finished with eight assists and two turnovers. He and Hill shared the court for extended stretches, giving the Illini offense a fresh dimension.

“I liked the look in his eye,” Groce said of Lewis. “He earned the minutes that he played. He did a great job and he played at both ends.”

Lewis has logged at least 30 minutes in four his last five games and has 25 assists compared to six turnovers in that span.

With the addition of Hill at point guard comes the subtraction of former starter Jalyon Tate from the rotation.

Tate has logged just six total minutes over the past three games and hasn’t seen more than 10 minutes of action since January. He leads the team in turnover percentage — an estimate of turnovers per 100 plays — with 25.8 during Big Ten Play, which is especially subpar when considering his team-low usage rate of 8.9 percent.

“I’m always trying to be solution-based,” Groce said. “I never make decisions like that on a personal nature, it’s always about what’s best for our team.”

With just four games before the Big Ten tournament, it remains to be seen what other adjustments Groce might make to push his team down the stretch.

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