CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Tracy Abrams proved that he was back to top shape -- or even better -- when he scored a career-high 31 points and led Illinois in a 92-73 drubbing of Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon.Abrams scored 23 points in the first half and finished 7 of 8 from 3-point range on a day when he scored his 1,000th career point with Illinois (8-3).Its been a long road for the guard from Chicago who missed the last two seasons with knee injuries. Despite the difficult journey, Abrams had a priority for whom to credit for his on-court success.My teammates for giving me the ball and just the hard work, being in the gym a lot. Abrams said. It just shows that hard work pays off.Illinois shot at or above 50 percent from the field in the first 10 minutes, but a six-minute Central Michigan scoring drought allowed Illinois to go on a 23-3 run and lead by as many as 19 points in the first half.Leron Black played another compete game from the bench, scoring a career-high 21 points.Illinois played its last nonconference game at home of the season, a game in which coach John Groce thought his team continued to grow and find its identity.It was our most complete performance of the season, Groce said. I think its something that we can build upon.Marcus Keene led Central Michigan (8-3) with 25 points and Braylon Rayson added 18.Illinois won the rebound battle 49-25 and outscored the Chippewas in the paint 34-14.We had great attitude, great effort and just got beat by an ever-improving Illinois team, Central Michigan coach Keno Davis said. They were able to expose the weakness of being not as physical, big and strong as they are.BIG PICTUREIllinois: The Fighting Illini continue to win during a critical stretch of the season. Two more nonconference wins against BYU and Missouri will help the Illinis tournament resume before the start of Big Ten play.Central Michigan: The Chippewas lost arguably their hardest game of the season. Central Michigan will have a nice break before playing the last two nonconference games of the season.STAR WATCHMalcolm Hill was held scoreless in the first half but finished with 10 points and five rebounds.STAT OF THE NIGHTIllinois held Central Michigan to its lowest first-half points total of the season at 36.ROLE PLAYERD.J. Williams continued to gain more playing time after sitting out two of the previous four games. The sophomore finished with two points and five rebounds in 18 minutes.UP NEXTIllinois will have the week of before the team travels to Chicago to play BYU in the State Farm Chicago Legends game.Central Michigan has an extended break before returning back to action at Montana State on Dec. 21.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org Cheap Jerseys USA . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Cheap Jerseys Online . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. http://www.cheapjerseysgoodquality.com/ . PAUL, Minn. Cheap Jerseys From China .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup. GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Arizona Coyotes coach Dave Tippett cant remember the last time he started four rookies in an NHL season opener, but that will likely be the case Saturday night at Gila River Arena.Defenseman Jakob Chychrun, center Christian Dvorak and left winger Lawson Crouse will make their NHL debuts against the Philadelphia Flyers and rookie Laurent Dauphin centers the fourth line after an eight-game NHL cameo last season.I could probably count on one hand how many times thats happened in my NHL career, said Tippett, who has coached for 14 seasons and played for 12 seasons. The biggest thing about it is those players have earned their right into the lineup. Theyve had good camps and they showed they could play at this level.One rookie who probably wont play for Arizona is 2015 first-round pick (No. 3 overall) Dylan Strome, the player the Coyotes are hoping becomes their franchise center. Strome is healthy, but he skated as an extra forward at Fridays practice. Asked if that was an indication of Stromes status for the season opener, Tippett all but confirmed it was.I would say theres probably a better chance that hell watch tomorrows game, but well come to that final conclusion in the morning, Tippett said. Weve got a lot of young guys here were going to have to integrate. You cant just throw them all out there to the wolves. Were going to make sure everybody can do their best to play their best.The Coyotes are trying to end a four-season playoff drought as they welcome the second wave of their youth movement that began last season with left wingers Max Domi and Jordan Martinook, right winger Anthony Duclair and backup goaltender Louis Domingue.The Flyers are trying to build on last seasons surprising playoff berth that was accomplished by going 12-5-3 in their final 20 games. To achieve that, Philadelphia hopes to avoid the slow starts that have plagued the team the last three seasons, including a 6-9-5 start last season.We cant put ourselves in a position where we have to battle back again, center Claude Giroux told the Philadelphia Inquirer. II think as a team, we feel more comfortable going into other buildings and getting wins.ddddddddddddThe first road trip is going to be really important for us. Were aware were playing really good teams, so its going to be a great challenge to see where were at right away.Philadelphia got off on the right foot when it opened the season with a 4-2 win on Friday night in Los Angeles against the Kings to end a four-game, opening-night losing streak. In that game, Philadelphia debuted two rookies with left winger Travis Konecny (two assists) and defenseman Ivan Provorov (one assist). It was the first game of a three-game trip that ends Tuesday in Chicago against the Blackhawks.Goalie Steve Mason is expected to start for Philadelphia against the Coyotes. Mike Smith will start in goal for Arizona.The Flyers will be without two players because of suspensions. Defenseman Radko Gudas will miss the first six games after a high check on Boston center Austin Czarnik in the preseason. Flyers center Brayden Schenn will miss the first three games for charging Washington right winger T.J. Oshie during Game 6 of the teams first-round playoff series last season.Philadelphia escaped further loss when defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere suffered a facial laceration from the skate of Kings left winger Kyle Clifford in Fridays first period but returned to action.Tippett called Coyotes left winger Jamie McGinn a real question mark for Saturdays game with an upper-body injury that Tippett said is not a long-term injury. McGinn did not skate on Friday.The Coyotes will be one of just three teams that will not have played a game when Saturdays NHL action begins. Colorado and Vancouver are the others. Tippett said he got a text message from Tampa coach Jon Cooper addressing the subject: He said, dont you guys ever play?Saturdays game is the latest season opener in Jets-Coyotes franchise history. The Coyotes are 7-2 all time when opening the season at home. 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