Despite having Malcolm Hill playing some great basketball, Illinois needed to find a little more production from the team to get over the hump.
Hill was doing everything he could in those first six games. He averaged 18.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.
All of these numbers were put up while Hill was averaging 31 minutes per game and shooting 41.5-percent from the field.
But, these first six games had a few skewed performances.
Hill dropped 40 points on Northern Kentucky and then 25 points against Detroit Mercy. He would then have a 3 point game against McKendree and 7 points against West Virginia.