CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois forward Malcolm Hill missed his first four shots from the field Friday, mirroring his teams slow start in the season opener against Southeast Missouri State.But the senior was pulling down rebounds, and the shots started falling late in the first half.Hill finished with 21 points and eight rebounds to lead the Illini past Southeast Missouri 81-62.Maverick Morgan added 16 points for Illinois and was 8 of 8 from the field. Michael Finke scored 12 and pulled down seven rebounds, while sixth-year guard Tracy Abrams scored 13 in his return after two-straight seasons out with injuries.Southeast Missouri opened hot, riding Antonius Clevelands eight early points for a 25-18 lead and keeping a sparse opening-night crowd quiet.But the Illini turned their defense up and started finding the basket, going on a 12-0 run to turn that seven-point deficit into a 30-25 lead on a 3-pointer from the left corner from guard Tracy Abrams.Illinois coach John Groce was happy his team survived the early charge, something he credited to having a team heavy on seniors.When our shots werent going in early, I thought our defense was kind of porous early, yet we kind of just kept hanging in there, Groce said.Illinois finished the night 58.6 percent from the field, including 19-22 from 2-pount range.The key to turning on Illinois defense was communication, Abrams said.We talked a little bit more down the stretch, we took on the challenge even more. We started talking more.Southeast Missouri coach Rick Ray liked his teams fast start. But the Redhawks did not respond on defense when Illinois started finding the basket, he said.I told our guys I have every confidence well be able to score the ball, a hoarse Ray said. The question is defense and rebounds.Milos Vranes led Southeast Missouri with 12 points. Cleveland finished with 10.BIG PICTURESoutheast Missouri: The Redhawks are coming off a 5-24 season and struggled in their only exhibition game, trailing by six at the half against Division II Missouri S&T before pulling out an 84-77 win. After taking the early lead on Friday, the Redhawks were mostly outmanned against a team with far bigger players. One of their biggest problems was on the boards. The Illini outrebounded Southeast Missouri 37-22.Illinois: One of Illinois most pressing early questions will be who emerges as the primary point guards. The team lacked a true point guard at times last season, one of the key problems in a 15-19 season. Abrams started Friday and senior Jaylon Tate backed him up but also shared the court at time, playing 25 minutes and scoring just two points but dishing out six assists. Talented freshman TeJon Lucas didnt play until 17 seconds were left in the game. Abrams night was encouraging.Groce said he liked the combination of Abrams and Tate on the floor together against a team that specializes in forcing turnovers.Those guys know each other like the back of their hands. I thought they had some good chemistry, he said.WELCOME BACKAbrams hadnt played a regular-season game in two full seasons before Friday. He missed all of 2014-15 with a torn Achilles tendon and all of last season with an anterior cruciate ligament tear. He was a welcome sight Friday, scoring the first points for the Illini on a 3-pointer less than two minutes into the game. He played 27 minutes.BIG MENIllinois is deep in big men, with Morgan and Michael Finke -- both 6-foot-10 -- and the 6-foot-11 Mike Thorne Jr. Morgan and Finke spent much of the night on the floor together. Between them the three scored 30 and had 15 rebounds.UP NEXTSoutheast Missouris home opener will be Sunday against Hannibal-LaGrange, an NAIA school in Hannibal, Missouri.Illinois hosts Northern Kentucky Sunday in the second game of a five-game homestand.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.orgFollow David Mercer on Twitter: (at)davidmercerAP Miami Heat Gear . - The Oakland Raiders re-signed offensive lineman Khalif Barnes on Friday. Harold Miner Jersey . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. https://www.cheapheatonline.com/157h-michael-jordan-jersey-heat.html . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. Glen Rice Jersey . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. Caron Butler Jersey .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. LONDON -- His pride would never allow him to say it. The internal mechanisms that keep a competitors nature functioning at peak efficiency wont even permit him to think it. But this is the moment Roger Federer has been waiting for.Federer, already the male all-time Grand Slam singles champion with 17 titles, hasnt won a major since the one he claimed here four years ago. He has remained confident that there is at least one more peak triumph laced into the strings of his racket, even though hes ripped through the pages of the calendar and is deep into his 34th year.In life, theres so much more to come, Federer said after he notched another win at Wimbledon on Monday. In tennis, theres not that much more. I hope there is a bit more in tennis. I hope I can win Wimbledon one more time. That would be nice.Say what you will on behalf of the UKs favorite son, Andy Murray. This tournament has become an empty table set to provide Federer fans with another feast. It became so the moment Novak Djokovics designs on a calendar-year Grand Slam were blown to smithereens by the atomic serves of Sam Querrey. It was an abrupt, unexpected shift, like ordering kobe beef and being served lobster.It was a game-changer, because Djokovic has been Federers nemesis. It is Djokovic, the 29-year old Serb, who has denied Federer the title in three Grand Slam finals (two here at Wimbledon) since the Swiss champ last won one. Its been Djokovic whos managed to push Federers foot out of the doorjamb each time hes tried to barge in and reclaim the No. 1 ranking.Meanwhile, Federer has lorded it over everyone else. Granted, Murray has been playing well. But Federer has won their past five meetings. He also handled Murray in the 2012 Wimbledon final and ruined him in straight sets in the semis last year. Djokovic and Federer were a class better than the rest of the field last year. Federer looks like he still may be, despite the assorted struggle that has limited him to 22 matches before Wimbledon began this year.But Federer hasnt spent much of his down time exploring options that lie outside the white lines.I havent done that much, to be quite honest, Federer said. Ive been tired. Ive been resting, watching some football, playing with my kids in the yard, doing treatment, watching tennis. I think its important right now to be in that mindset. My friends, my family, everybody around me did all the Beyonce, Matilda, all the stuff I wanted to do, too, but just not right now. Right now I have other goals.Federer hasnt lost a set at Wimbledon thus far. It hard to gauge his fitness. Theres no question aabout his fidelity or enthusiasm.dddddddddddd. He equaled Martina Navratilovas Grand Slam record with 306 match-wins. In making the quarterfinals here for the 14th time (in 18 tries), he tied Jimmy Connors record.The amazing thing is that Federer acts and talks like none of this is a big deal. Iron man? The way he tells it, Federer dropped straight from the womb into a lifelong tub of butter, racket in hand.I prefer playing matches in front of thousands of people and on legendary courts rather than practicing in front of nobody, he admitted. But even that I take pleasure from as well. I dont feel like I need it necessarily to live, otherwise I feel like Id be in the wrong place, playing for the wrong reasons.Federer has a pile of right reasons now, starting with the most selfish one. He was in a similar situation in 2009, when his clay-court nemesis, Rafael Nadal, was eliminated in the fourth round of the French Open. With the King of Clay out of the way, the pressure suddenly accumulated. The four matches leading to the title were harrowing for Federer. He barely survived a five-set semifinal with big-hitting Juan Martin del Potro but did and went on to win the title.On Wednesday, Federer has a quarterfinal date with big-hitting Marin Cilic, a 27-year old Croatian who won his one and only Grand Slam title in New York two years ago.He brushed me off the court like I was nothing a few years back in the [2014] US Open semis, Federer said in his on-court interview Monday.Federer sounded almost bitter. Familiar and much-loved Reasonable Fed soon reasserted himself.I didnt play poorly in any way, Federer said. It was just all on his [Cilics] racket. It was very seldom that I was blown off the court like that. I had some chances. But every time I had a small chance, either he served another big serve, or on the return, he went for broke.It was unbelievably impressive how he finished that tournament, quarters, semis, finals. I dont think he lost a set. It was unbelievably impressive.Federer has practiced with Cilic here at Wimbledon, probably never really expecting to meet him at such a critical juncture in the tournament. Federer is prepared. His entire life has been about preparation and vigilance. About being ready to seize the moment. Contemplating Cilics big game, Federer said: I know what Im getting into.What hes really getting into is the stretch run of a Grand Slam without Novak Djokovic in his way for the first time in a long time. ' ' '