Hill, Black shine in exhibition

Illinois’ Leron Black looks for an open pass during the exhibition game against Quincy at State Farm Center on Friday. The Illini won 91-62. Black scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. 

In the season’s first exhibition game, Quincy won the opening tip and quickly converted an old-fashioned three-point play to take a 3-0 lead over Illinois.  

The Illini swung back, jumping out to a 17-3 lead, but the Hawks proved they were far from the worst team to grace the floor in the 51-year history of State Farm Center. Quincy competed, and led by Godson Eneogwe’s 14 points, it kept Illinois on its toes. 

The Hawks hung within 20 points most of the night, forcing Illinois to play hard until the 91-62 result was final. 

Other than offering a slightly better showing than this columnist expected, Quincy pretty much did what it was supposed to do Friday night at State Farm Center. As most exhibition games go, the inferior team came in, got beat handily, and we got an idea of what the Illini might have in store for us this season.

One of the biggest takeaways from Friday was the apparent acceleration of the Illinois offense. It appears the third edition of Illinois basketball under Groce will run at a faster pace than what we’ve seen the last two years. Led by point guard Ahmad Starks, the Illini looked to push the ball in a secondary break after pulling down missed shots on the defensive end. They hoisted 30 threes, which no doubt is an indication of things to come. Make no mistake, the Illini will let it fly from deep this season. 

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Groce has been known for his up-tempo offenses in his career, but wasn’t able to implement it to his liking due to the personnel he had in the last two years. It looks like this year, Illinois will essentially plug in four guards to its starting lineup (Starks, Aaron Cosby, Rayvonte Rice and Malcolm Hill) to surround center Nnanna Egwu with capable scorers on the perimeter. Rice, Cosby and Hill all possess a combination of size and strength to mix it up inside as well. 

Speaking of Malcolm Hill: Oh, boy. Every facet of Hill’s game looks light years better than last season. His jumper, his handles, his confidence, everything. The sophomore scored 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting while hitting six out of seven free throws.

Hill was the best player on the floor Friday, and he showed an impressive arsenal of skills on the offensive end. He could end up being a nightmare for opposing forwards this season, capable of creating mismatches with his athleticism.

“I feel a lot stronger; my offense has gotten better,” Hill said. “All it is is confidence. When I was a freshman last year, I was a little nervous, I didn’t know what to expect. This year, I’m just playing, I’m just letting the game come to me.”

It wasn’t just the Malcolm Hill show, either. Freshman Leron Black had an outstanding night, scoring 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting while being active on the boards with eight rebounds. 

As the impressive showing from Black rolled along, a murmur from the State Farm Center crowd grew louder, as if the fans in attendance were all agreeing upon the same thing: Illinois may have the best-kept secret in the Big Ten in the 6-foot-7 newcomer.

We’ll see how Black does when he runs into more athletic and competitive bigs, but his performance Friday night was encouraging.

Three of the players expected to have big years for the Illini this year — Rice, Cosby and Starks — did some nice things, but didn’t steal the show. However, it’s clear this will be a dangerous team when those three are connecting from beyond the arc. Egwu was, expectedly, a menace on defense, finishing with five blocks.

Overall, this Illinois team showed some serious potential offensively; they did it without sophomore Kendrick Nunn. He sat out as a precaution to keep his recovering knee fresh.

Groce expects him to be ready for the season opener next Friday, and I’m intrigued to see what the Illini offense can do with another high-octane weapon at its disposal.

At Illinois’ media day in early October, Groce and his players refused to put a ceiling on this team when asked how far it could go. That’s wise in my opinion, because there are definitely things to improve on after tonight (especially defensively). But it certainly looks like Illinois has the pieces to have a solid year. 

I’ve been to dozens of Illini exhibition games over the years, and they never really mean much. But this one left me optimistic about where this team could go.

Alex is a junior in AHS. He can be reached at [email protected] and @aroux94.