The University of Maine men’s hockey team is ranked ninth in the latest USCHO.com Division I poll, its highest ranking since March 2012.
The Black Bears improved to 7-1-1 overall and 4-0-1 in Hockey East by going 1-0-1 against Boston College this week. The Eagles dropped from No. 1 in the poll to No. 4 after their trip to Orono. Maine beat Boston College 4-2 on Friday and earned a 2-2 tie (losing in the shootout) on Saturday.
Maine faces No. 5 Boston University (6-3-1, 3-1-1) in a weekend series in Boston. This is the first meeting between the teams where they were both ranked in the top 10 since March 16, 2012. Friday’s game is at 7 p.m., and Saturday’s game starts at 6 p.m. Both games will stream on ESPN+. Friday’s game will also be televised on NESN.
• Maine goalie Victor Ostman was named Hockey East Goaltender of the Week after stopping 52 shots in two games against Boston College.
Ostman made 26 saves, including 12 in the first period, of Maine’s 4-2 win Friday. He also stopped 26 shots in a 2-2 tie on Saturday, including 10 in the third period.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
UMAINE: Guard Anne Simon was named America East Player of the Week after leading the Black Bears to a 2-1 record.
Simon averaged 19.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 steals for the Black Bears. She had 20 points and 10 rebounds in Maine’s 58-48 win over Lasalle, and 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists in a 69-48 win over UMass. She also had 11 points and six rebounds in the Black Bears’ season-opening 70-57 loss to Quinnipiac.
(15) TENNESSEE 84, MEMPHIS 74: Sara Puckett scored a career-high 24 points and host Tennessee (2-1)closed out overtime with a 9-0 run to beat Memphis (1-2).
Jillian Hollingshead sank two free throws and Puckett followed with a layup to give Tennessee a 73-69 lead 48 seconds into OT. Alasia Smith had back-to-back layups to pull Memphis even with 2:51 remaining. Jewel Spear scored a go-ahead layup at the 1:54 mark and the Lady Vols stayed in front from there by sinking 7 of 8 free throws.
TOP 25: South Carolina had a historic jump to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 after a chaotic opening week in women’s basketball that saw nine of the top 14 teams in the preseason poll lose, including defending national champion and preseason No. 1 LSU.
The Gamecocks weren’t the only teams making history in the season’s first regular-season poll, either. UConn and Colorado did too and it was a milestone poll for the Pac-12 Conference.
South Carolina was sixth in the preseason before vaulting up to the top spot. No team has made a bigger leap to No. 1 in the history of the poll that dates to 1977.
LSU fell to seventh after losing its opener to then-No. 20 Colorado. The Buffaloes now have their best ranking since closing out the 1995 season at No. 2 and made the biggest leap in poll history, moving up 15 spots, according to the website “Across the Timeline.”
UConn fell from second to eighth after losing to N.C. State, which jumped into the poll at No. 14. The Wolfpack’s entrance matched the highest for an unranked team, tying Kansas State in 2003. Despite the loss, the Huskies now have been ranked for 566 consecutive weeks, breaking a tie with Tennessee for the longest streak ever.
RUTGERS: Kahleah Copper is heading back to Rutgers as an assistant on the women’s basketball team, where she played during her college career.
The Chicago Sky’s star wing of the WNBA will become the Director of Athletic Culture and Professional Development. Copper averaged 14 points and 5.8 rebounds when she competed for the Scarlet Knights from 2012-16 under Coach C. Vivian Stringer.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
SOUTHERN MAINE 77, MAINE MARITIME 70: Chance Dixon scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Huskies (2-0) beat the Mariners (2-1) in Gorham.
Brady Saunders added 18 points and Tommy Whelan had 12 for USM.
Isaiah Oquendo had 18 points and Josiah Dancy added 14, and Markus Ramirez and Carter Rubin both scored 13 for MMA.
(12) MIAMI 86, FIU 80: Matthew Cleveland scored 23 points, Bensley Joseph and Wooga Poplar each added 18 and Miami (3-0) rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to beat FIU (0-3) at Coral Gables, Florida.
Nigel Pack scored 17 points and Norchad Omier had 11 rebounds for the Hurricanes, who won a game with wild back-and-forth momentum swings.
Arturo Dean scored 19 for FIU (0-3), and Dashon Gittens added 14 and Javaunte Hawkins had 11.
PENN 76, (21) VILLANOVA 72: Tyler Perkins scored 22 points and Penn (3-1)trailed for only 53 seconds in a victory over Villanova (2-1) at the Palestra in Philadelphia that ended with students from the Ivy League underdog mobbing the court for a wild celebration.
The Quakers (3-1) won for only the 19th time in 70 games against the Wildcats in a series that dates to 1922.
TOP 25: Kansas remained at No. 1 and received 51 first-place votes from a 62-person media panel, but the rest of the AP Top 25 was filled with teams moving up and down.
No. 2 Purdue moved up a spot with two easy opening wins and received seven first-place votes. No. 3 Arizona took a giant leap from 12 after beating Duke and had three first-place votes.
No. 4 Marquette moved up a spot as did defending national champion Connecticut, which received a first-place vote to round out the top five. No. 24 James Madison moved into the poll for the first time ever after taking down Michigan State in overtime.
FOOTBALL
MISSISSIPPI STATE: The school fired Zach Arnett after less than one season as head coach, just under a year since he took over the Bulldogs after the tragic passing of Mike Leach from a heart issue.
Arnett leaves the university after a 5-6 record, including a 4-6 mark this season with the program tied for last in the Southeastern Conference West Division at 1-6.
SAN DIEGO STATE: San Diego State announced that Brady Hoke will retire at the end of a disappointing season that has seen the Aztecs play before many empty seats in their new stadium and plummet to the bottom of the Mountain West standings just two years after a 12-win season.
The school said Hoke will retire after coaching the final two games, at San Jose State on Saturday and at home against Fresno State on Nov. 25. The Aztecs are 3-7 overall — missing bowl eligibility for the first time since 2009 — and tied for last in the Mountain West with New Mexico at 1-5.
Hoke, 65, is 39-31 (.557) in six seasons at San Diego State and in the fourth season of his second term as Aztecs head coach.
MICHIGAN: Jim Harbaugh stood behind a lectern and delivered prepared remarks, kicking off a week in which he will either lose another opportunity to coach or win a hearing to at least temporarily lift the Big Ten’s penalty against him for a sign-stealing scheme.
Harbaugh said he would save his opinions on the conference’s punishment for his day in court, which comes Friday.
Harbaugh said if the hearing does not go in the school’s favor, offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore will lead the way for a second straight game at Maryland (6-3, 3-4) on Saturday.
Moore called the shots in a 24-15 win over then-No. 9 Penn State.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
