BANGOR — Sergio El Darwich scored 36 points as the University of Maine ended a three-game losing streak by edging UMass-Lowell 104-98 in overtime on Wednesday night in men’s basketball.

El Darwich had a near-triple-double with 10 assists and nine rebounds. Andrew Fleming and Precious Okoh each chipped in 14 points, and Vilgot Larsson had 12 for the Black Bears (5-13, 1-3 AE). Maine’s bench accounted for 33 points.

Christian Lutete led Mass-Lowell (8-11, 2-2) with 29 points and nine rebounds. Obadiah Noel followed with 26 points and five assists, and Connor Withers finished with 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting.

U. OF NEW ENGLAND 90, COLBY-SAWYER 79: Avery DeBrito and Siddiq Canty carried the load for the Nor’easters (8-7) in their win over the Chargers (6-7) at Biddeford.

DeBrito shot 6 for 12 on 3-pointers, finishing with 34 points and eight rebounds. Canty scored 22 points and grabbed four rebounds. Alex Kravchuk had 18 points and 13 rebounds. UNE held the Chargers to 35.9 percent shooting.

Patrick Coffey led Colby-Sawyer with 18 points. Dana Bean had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Terrence Harvey Jr. scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

THOMAS 90, ST. JOSEPH’S 73: Demetris Webster scored 23 points and Jordan Goodson 22 to lead the Terriers (9-6) to a nonconference win against St. Joseph’s (6-8) in Waterville.

Thomas took control 12 minutes into the game when Justin Butler tossed in a 3-pointer to put the Terriers ahead 20-17. After a pair of made free throws by the Monks’ Zac Manoogian, Butler sank a field goal to begin a 14-0 run that gave the Terriers a 34-19 lead with 2:22 left in the half. Webster sank two 3-pointers during the decisive surge.

Butler finished with 13 for Thomas and Zach McKinnon 11. Jack Casale played a strong game for the Monks, scoring 30 points and hauling down 11 rebounds. Nicholas Curtis added 19 points for St. Joseph’s.

PLYMOUTH ST. 99, SOUTHERN MAINE 80: Dante Rivera scored 34 points as the Panthers (7-7, 2-4 LEC) topped the Huskies at Plymouth, New Hampshire.

Rivera hit 7 of 9 from beyond the 3-point line. Jaylen LeRoy and Kevin Henry were Plymouth State’s second-leading scorers with 17 points each, and Manny Alisandro posted a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Jacobe Thomas led USM with 23 points and six rebounds. DJ Anderson and Cody Hawes added 14 and 10 points off the bench.

(2) BAYLOR 68, IOWA STATE 55: Davion Mitchell had 17 points, scoring just before and after halftime as the Bears (14-1, 4-0 Big 12)  started stretching their lead in beating the Cyclones (8-8, 1-3 Big 12).

(9) FLORIDA STATE 54, VIRGINIA 50: Devin Vassell scored 18 points, including a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws in the final seconds, as the host Seminoles (15-2, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat the Cavaliers (11-5, 3-3).

SOUTH CAROLINA 81, (10) KENTUCKY 78: Freshman Jermaine Couisnard hit a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded and the host Gamecocks (9-7, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) rallied from 14 points down in the second half to stun the Wildcats (12-4, 3-1).

(18) SETON HALL 78, (5) BUTLER 70: Myles Powell scored 19 of his 29 points in the second half and Romaro Gill matched his career high with 17 points to lead the Pirates (13-4, 5-0 Big East) back from a 10-point halftime deficit to top the Bulldogs (15-2, 3-1) at Indianapolis.

GEORGETOWN 83, (25) CREIGHTON 80: Omer Yurtseven had 20 points and 13 rebounds and Mac McClung scored 19 points as the host Hoyas (12-6, 2-3 Big East) topped the Bluejays (13-5, 2-3).

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MASS-LOWELL 66, MAINE 57:  The host River Hawks (9-9, 5-0 America East) took control with a 25-10 second quarter as they defeated the Black Bears (7-12, 3-2) at Lowell, Massachusetts.

Denise Solis and Bri Stiers had 12 points apiece for Mass-Lowell, and Jaliena and Sanchez had 11 points each.

Anne Simon had 15 points for Maine, and Maddy McVicar added 11.

SOUTHERN MAINE 69, PLYMOUTH STATE 52: Michelle Rowe broke a 14-14 tie with a layup to open the second quarter, starting a 6-0 run as the Huskies (8-8, 3-4 Little East) steadily pulled away from the Panthers (3-10, 0-6) at Plymouth, New Hampshire.

Rowe had a game-high 21 points, 12 in the first half, and grabbed 11 boards for Southern Maine; reserve Victoria Harris chipped in with 14 points.

Chenysse Hill led Plymouth State with 13 points.

ST. JOSEPH’S 46: COLBY-SAWYER 43:  The Monks took the lead on Kaleigh Walsh’s jumper with 3:45 to play in regulation and held on to edge the Chargers at New London, New Hampshire.

Alyson Fillion led St. Joseph’s with 18 points, Cassandra Stapelfeld added 14, going 4 for 7 from behind the arc, and Walsh finished with seven.

Lexie Hamilton led Colby-Sawyer with 14 points, Tianna Sugars add 13 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds.

SOUTHERN MAINE C.C. 98, UNITY 42: Southern Maine C.C. improved to 16-2, 8-2 in the Yankee Small College Conference, by beating the Rams (3-8, 2-7) in Unity.

(2) BAYLOR 90, KANSAS 47: Lauren Cox and Nalyssa Smith each scored 13 points and the Lady Bears (13-1, 3-0 Big 12) used a 50-point first half to rout the Jayhawks (11-4, 0-4) at Lawrence, Kansas.

OKLAHOMA 73, (17) WEST VIRGINIA 49: Taylor Roberston made eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points to help the Sooners (10-6, 3-1 Big 12) top the host Mountaineers (13-2, 3-1).

MINNESOTA: Minnesota’s suspension of leading scorer Destiny Pitts will stay in effect for at least a second straight game, Coach Lindsay Whalen said.

Pitts remains with the program, Whalen said, but the junior guard has not practiced since the punishment for unspecified “conduct unbecoming a member of the team” was enacted Sunday before the Gophers played at Illinois. Senior forwards Taiye Bello and Kehinde Bello, who are twins, were also banned from traveling to that game for undisclosed, unrelated reasons.

The Bello sisters were practicing Wednesday, but their playing status for Thursday against Iowa had not yet been determined, Whalen told reporters.

MEN’S HOCKEY

CONNECTICUT 3, MAINE 2: The Huskies (8-10-4) scored three unanswered goals to beat the Black Bears (10-9-4) at Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Jakub Sirota and Tim Doherty scored 1:05 apart in the first period for Maine. Goaltender Jeremy Swayman made 23 saves.

Vladislov Firstov had the go-ahead goal for UConn in the final period, with Carter Turnbull and Alexander Payusov also scoring. Tomas Vomacka made 37 saves in goal.

FOOTBALL

CLEMSON: Clemson’s leader in receiving yards and touchdowns, Tee Higgins, is forgoing his final college season to enter the NFL draft.

Higgins, 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, had 1,167 yards on 59 catches with 13 touchdowns as the Tigers (14-1) won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.

The Tigers’ 29-game winning streak came to end Monday night with a 42-25 loss to LSU in the national championship game.

Higgins had a career-record 27 touchdown catches in three seasons with the Tigers.

BOISE STATE: Boise State promoted Eric Kiesau to offensive coordinator, replacing the departed Zak Hill.

Kiesau has been on the Broncos’ staff the past three seasons as the wide receivers coach. Kiesau was also given the title of co-offensive coordinator last season. Hill left after the season to take the offensive coordinator role at Arizona State.

MISSOURI STATE: Bobby Petrino, a coach with a track record of on-the-field success and off-the-field embarrassments, will be the next coach for the Bears.

Petrino, 58, will be introduced at a news conference Thursday. He will replace Dave Steckel, who was fired last week after winning just 13 games in five seasons.

Petrino has a 119-56 record in 14 seasons at Arkansas, Western Kentucky and Louisville. He also spent part of one season coaching the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, where he coached 13 games in 2007 before abruptly resigning.

Petrino was 31-9 at Louisville from 2003-06, including an Orange Bowl win after the 2006 season. He left to coach the Falcons, where he failed to last even one season. He resigned with three games remaining to return to college coaching at Arkansas.

Petrino was 34-17 in four seasons at Arkansas, leading the school to the Sugar Bowl following the 2010 season and a No. 5 final ranking the following season, when the Razorbacks won 11 games.

A few months after that season ended Petrino was injured in a motorcycle accident that exposed an extra-marital affair with an athletic department employee. Petrino originally said he was riding alone but later revealed that the woman was a passenger, and that they were involved in a relationship. Petrino was fired.

He was out of football in 2012 before resurfacing at Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers were 8-4 in 2013 and beat Kentucky in Petrino’s only season there. He was rehired at Louisville for the 2014 season.

He had initial success at Louisville. During the 2016 season, the Cardinals went 9-4, reached as high as No. 3 in the AP poll and beat then-No. 2 Florida State, 63-20. Sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson, now a standout with the Baltimore Ravens, won the Heisman Trophy, and Louisville shared the ACC’s Atlantic Division title with Clemson.

But after going 8-5 in 2017, the bottom fell out the following season, when Petrino’s only wins came against FCS opponents Indiana State and Western Kentucky. With Jackson graduated, Louisville’s offense struggled. The Cardinals were 2-8 and were in the midst of a seven-game losing streak when Petrino was fired following a 54-23 loss to Syracuse. The university agreed to pay the remaining $14 million on his contract.

Petrino had been out of coaching since his ouster at Louisville.

LSU: LSU has contacted officials from the NCAA and Southeastern Conference about Cleveland Browns receiver Odell Beckham Jr.’s apparent cash payments to Tigers players on the field after the national championship game, a university spokesman said.

LSU athletics spokesman Michael Bonnette said initial information suggested that Beckham handed out “novelty bills” to players after the top-ranked Tigers defeated Clemson on Monday night. However, further investigation showed that Beckham may have given away real money, Bonnette said.

“Information and footage reviewed since shows apparent cash may have also been given to LSU student-athletes,” Bonnette said in a statement. “We were in contact with the NCAA and the SEC immediately upon learning of this situation in which some of our student-athletes may have been placed in a compromising position. We are working with our student-athletes, the NCAA and the SEC in order to rectify the situation.”

Beckham starred for LSU from 2011 to 2013 and was a first-round draft pick by the New York Giants. He was traded to Cleveland before last season.

Videos posted on social media showed Beckham placing money in the hand of LSU receiver Justin Jefferson and celebrating with players in LSU’s locker room in the Superdome.

Jefferson, who just completed his junior season, is eligible to turn pro and enter this spring’s NFL draft.

LSU graduate transfer quarterback Joe Burrow, who has exhausted his college eligibility and is expected to be a top NFL draft choice this year, said on a Barstool Sports podcast that it appeared to him Beckham was handing out actual cash.

The NCAA does not allow players to receive cash benefits while playing college football. Those rules are designed to prevent institutions from luring talent through the promise of direct or indirect payments.

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