BANGOR — Trae Bell-Haynes scored 16 points, Ernie Duncan and Drew Urquhart each added 14 points and Vermont beat Maine 74-62 on Tuesday night for its 10th straight road victory.

Senior Payton Henson had 12 points and nine rebounds for top-seeded Vermont (25-6, 15-1 America East), which will host Maine – the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament – in the quarterfinals Saturday.

The Catamounts are tied with Gonzaga for the longest -active road winning streak in the country.

Maine pulled within single digits with under five minutes left, but Bell-Haynes went coast-to-coast to give Vermont a 70-60 lead.

Aaron Calixte led Maine (6-25, 3-13) with 19 points and Andrew Fleming had 18. The Black Bears have lost 13 straight in the series.

Vermont’s class of 2018 became the winningest seniors in program history with 97 career wins.

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(16) TENNESSEE 76, MISSISSIPPI 54:  Admiral Schofield had 24 points and No. 16 Tennessee used a dominant second-half performance to cruise past Mississippi State.

Schofield also had seven rebounds and shot 9 of 18 from the field for the Volunteers. Lamonte Turner added 12 points for Tennessee (22-7, 12-5 SEC).

Quinndary Weatherspoon led Mississippi State (21-9, 9-8) with 17 points. Nick Weatherspoon had 11 points and Aric Holman finished with 10 for the Bulldogs.

SAINT JOSEPH’S 78, (17) RHODE ISLAND 48: James Demery scored 21 points, Taylor Funk had 17 and visiting Saint Joseph’s stunned Atlantic 10 champion Rhode Island .

Shavar Newkirk added 14 points for the Hawks (14-15, 9-8), who won for the fourth time in five games.

Jared Terrell scored 19 points with seven rebounds and E.C. Matthews had 13 points for Rhode Island (23-5, 15-2). It was the Rams’ second loss in four games after a school record 16-game winning streak.

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URI shot just 28.1 percent in the game.

The Rams came out ice cold from the field, missing 25 of its 31 shots in the opening half.

NOTES

Games in next month’s NIT will use experimental rules that include an extended 3-point line, a wider free-throw lane and 10-minute quarters instead of 20-minute halves.

The NCAA announced the changes Tuesday.

The 3-point arc will move to roughly 22 feet, which is used by FIBA for international competition. The lane will expand from 12 feet to the NBA’s 16 feet.

Also, the shot clock will reset to 20 seconds after offensive rebounds instead of the full 30 seconds.

The NIT begins March 13 and ends March 29 in New York’s Madison Square Garden.


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