BANGOR — The University of Maine ended a seven-game losing streak and got its first win of the season against a Division I opponent Monday night, beating the University of New Hampshire 71-64 in men’s basketball.
Vukasin Masic and Maks Klansjcek each hit five 3-pointers on their way to 25 points, with Klansjcek adding four assists for the Black Bears (4-13, 1-5 America East). Ja’shonte Wright-Mcleish finished with 13 points and three assists for Maine.
Nick Guadarrama had 20 points and five rebounds for UNH (7-7, 2-3). Marco Foster posted 17 points and seven rebounds. Jayden Martinez tallied 13 points.
UMaine’s other wins this season were against UMaine-Farminton, UMaine-Fort Kent and the University of New England.
SOUTHERN MAINE 73, PLYMOUTH STATE 68: Chance Dixon paced the Huskies (7-8, 2-4 LEC) with 13 points, four rebounds and five assists in a win over the Panthers (7-8, 2-4) at Plymouth, New Hampshire.
Simon Chadbourne finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting on 3-pointers for USM. Marcus Christopher had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Giorgi Tsiklauri put up a game-high 17 points to go with five rebounds for Plymouth State. Kyler Bosse had 15 and five rebounds. Dante Rivera scored 12 points.
AP POLL: A barely ranked afterthought to begin the season, Auburn climbed past Gonzaga to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll released. The Tigers beat Kentucky over the weekend for their 15th consecutive win, then scooped up 45 of 61 first-place votes to become the nation’s top-ranked team for the first time since the poll began with the 1948-49 season.
The Bulldogs dropped to No. 2 with 15 first-place votes. Arizona remained third and earned the other No. 1 vote.
The Tigers are the fifth team to reach that spot this season, following two stints by the Bulldogs and runs by Duke, Purdue and defending national champion Baylor.
Baylor rebounded from consecutive losses while it was No. 1 to beat West Virginia and Oklahoma and climb one position to fourth. Big 12 rival Kansas is fifth.
The Boilermakers fell two spots to sixth after losing to Indiana early last week. They were followed by Houston and UCLA, deadlocked at No. 7, with Duke and Michigan State rounding out the top 10.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
(1) SOUTH CAROLINA 85, VANDERBILT 30: LeLe Grissett scored a season-high 14 points, Aliyah Boston is up to 12 straight games with a double-double, and host South Carolina (18-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) got its 14th consecutive win over Vanderbilt (10-10, 1-5).
(7) MICHIGAN 79, PURDUE 66: Naz Hillmon scored 32 points and had 12 rebounds, and host Michigan (17-2, 8-1 Big Ten) dominated the paint in beating Purdue (12-7, 3-5).
(16) BYU 70, SAN DIEGO 48: Shaylee Gonzales scored 20 points, Lauren Gustin had 10 points and 13 rebounds and host BYU (16-1, 6-0 West Coast Conference) beat San Diego (10-8, 2-4) for its second victory over the Toreros in two days.
AP POLL: Unbeaten on the road this season, Mississippi entered The Associated Press women’s basketball poll for the first time in 15 years, coming in at No. 24.
The Rebels (17-2) have won their first seven games away from home, including a victory over then-No. 23 Kentucky on Sunday. The last Top 25 ranking for Ole Miss was January 2007.
That unblemished mark will be put to the test Thursday when the Rebels visit No. 1 South Carolina in a rescheduled game. The Gamecocks received 29 of the 30 first-place votes from a national media panel to remain the top team in the poll.
Stanford, North Carolina State, Tennessee and Louisville round out the top five. Indiana remained sixth and was followed by Michigan, Arizona, Texas and UConn.
MEN’S HOCKEY
U. OF NEW ENGLAND 3, SALVE REGINA 2: Chris Jones scored the winner on a power play midway through the third period as the Nor’easters (9-2-1, 8-2-1) downed the Seahawks (11-5, 9-3) in Middletown, Rhode Island.
Daniel Winslow tied it at 2 with a power-play goal early in the second period, and Chad Merrell got UNE’s other goal early in the first.
FOOTBALL
SOUTH CAROLINA: Georgia’s Lovasea Carroll is leaving the national champions and joining South Carolina’s football program.
Carroll posted his decision on social media. Carroll was moved from running back to the secondary by the Bulldogs and is expected to return to the offensive backfield with the Gamecocks.
ARIZONA STATE: Arizona State hired former Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick as an offensive analyst and advisor to Coach Herm Edwards.
Billick won the Super Bowl with the Ravens in 2001 and led them to three other playoff appearances in nine seasons. He went 80-64 before being fired in 2007.
He has spent the past 12 years providing commentary and draft analysis for Fox and NFL Network. He last coached in college at Stanford in 1991.
Billick joins a staff that includes two other former NFL head coaches: Edwards and special assistant to the head coach Marvin Lewis.
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