Tommy Whelan scored 16 points as the University of Southern Maine men’s basketball team beat Maine Maritime 71-65 on Tuesday in Castine.

Jason Lombard and Clay Kuhn each added 11 points, while Chance Dixon had 11 for Southern Maine.

Curt Heinz had 16 points and 15 rebounds for Maine Maritime. Carter Rubin added 12 points, Isaiah Oquendo 11 and Josiah Dancy 10 for Maine Maritime.

(1) NORTH CAROLINA 72, GARDNER-WEBB 66: Caleb Love scored 20 points and Pete Nance added 18 points as the Tar Heels (3-0) fended off the Runnin’ Bulldogs (0-3) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

RJ Davis scored on consecutive possessions down the stretch and finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels. Armando Bacot added 10 points.

Anthony Selden scored 21 points, Julien Soumaoro had 17 points and Kareem Reid added 10 points for Gardner-Webb, which faced a top-ranked team for the first time.

MICHIGAN STATE 86, (4) KENTUCKY 77: Malik Hall forced two extra periods with dunks off inbounds plays, and the Spartans (2-1) outlasted the Wildcats (2-1) in double overtime in Indianapolis after Oscar Tshiebwe concluded his strong season debut by fouling out.

Tshiebwe, last season’s consensus national player of the year, had 22 points and 18 rebounds for the Wildcats before picking up his fifth foul late in the first overtime.

Michigan State, coming off a one-point loss to No. 2 Gonzaga on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, appeared headed for another tough nonconference defeat in this Champions Classic matchup. But the Spartans tied the game in the final seconds of regulation and overtime thanks to Hall, who finished with 20 points.

(13) AUBURN 89, WINTHROP 65: Johni Broome had 18 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots to lead the Tigers (3-0) to a victory over the Eagles (2-2) in Auburn, Alabama.

(25) UCONN 84, BUFFALO 64: Tristen Newton had 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to lead the Huskies (3-0) past the Bulls (1-2) in Hartford, Connecticut.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

(16) OKLAHOMA 77, BYU 66: Madi Williams had 21 points, Nevaeh Tot scored 11 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter and the Sooners (3-0) beat Cougars (0-3) in Provo, Utah.

(20) CREIGHTON 77, (22) NEBRASKA 51: Molly Mogensen scored 22 points, Morgan Maly added 16 with eight rebounds and the Bluejays (3-0) routed the Cornhuskers (2-1) in Omaha, Nebraska in the first matchup between the in-state rivals when both were ranked.

FOOTBALL

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RANKINGS: Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU held on to the top four spots in the College Football Playoff rankings, with Tennessee at No. 5 and LSU at No. 6.

With three of the top six teams and only three weeks left until Selection Sunday, the Southeastern Conference appears well positioned to put two teams in the CFP for the second straight season and third time overall.

Georgia (10-0) and LSU (8-2) have already clinched spot in the SEC title game. Tennessee (9-1) can do no better than 11-1.

Ohio State (10-0) and Michigan (10-0) will finish the regular season against eachother the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

No. 7 USC (9-1), the Pac-12’s best and probably last hope to make the final four, is seventh. USC faces UCLA (8-2), the committee’s 16th ranked team, on Saturday.

LAWSUIT: Former Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich has sued the university and Gov. Jay Inslee after he was fired last year for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Whitman County Superior Court, names the university, athletic director Patrick Chun and Inslee as defendants. Inslee, a Democrat, had required that state employees get vaccinated, or receive a specific exemption, to keep their jobs.

Rolovich contends Chun and other university officials were “hostile” when they denied him a religious exemption and fired him from his $3 million a year coaching job midway through the 2021 season. Rolovich was the highest-paid public employee in the state at the time and had more than three years left on his five-year contract.

Rolovich is Catholic and said in the lawsuit that he applied for a religious exemption from the vaccine requirement.

CLEMSON: The Tigers will be without junior defensive back Malcolm Greene for the rest of the season due to a groin injury.

Coach Dabo Swinney said Tuesday Greene would need an operation and would not be available going forward.

GEORGIA TECH: The Yellow Jackets lost two quarterbacks for the rest of the season with former starter Jeff Sims nursing a foot injury and No. 1 backup Zach Pyron out with a broken collarbone, interim coach Brent Key said.

Zach Gibson, a transfer from Akron, will start when Georgia Tech (4-6, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) visits No. 13 North Carolina (9-1, 6-0) on Saturday.