SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame couldn’t shake Maine for 35 minutes, but after sitting out the previous game, Fighting Irish forward Jack Cooley was ready to help close out the Black Bears.

Cooley scored 18 of his career-high 22 points in the second half to help Notre Dame put away a pesky Maine team for an 87-78 victory on Thursday night.

The 6-foot-9 forward was held out of the starting lineup after missing the Maryland game because of illness. He played 27 minutes and had 14 rebounds.

“I thought Jack was fabulous,” Irish Coach Mike Brey said. “He gave us the heart and soul, got loose balls for us, did all of the tough stuff.”

Eric Atkins led the Fighting Irish (6-4) with 26 points and six assists.

Maine (3-3) raced out to a 15-9 lead and trailed 44-41 at halftime. Alasdair Fraser scored 17 points in the first half but was held scoreless during his seven minutes in the second half. He was forced to the bench with foul trouble and fouled out with 5:29 remaining.

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Gerald McLemore had 27 points for the Black Bears, and Justin Edwards added 20.

“Clearly, Fraser’s foul trouble was a problem for us,” Maine Coach Ted Woodward said. “It disrupted our balance, but at the same time, I thought we had some guys step up and have a nice showing for us.”

Former Dirigo High standout Tom Knight had seven points and two rebounds for Notre Dame.

ST. JOSEPH’S 78, LASELL 63: Matt Medeiros scored 20 points, and Clark Noonan had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Monks (4-1), who took a 30-10 lead in the first 13:30 and held off the Lasers (2-5) in a GNAC opener at Standish.

Zach O’Brien added 13 points for St. Joseph’s. Chris Petzy and Nich Jobin each had 12.

(9) CONNECTICUT 67, (25) HARVARD 53: Jeremy Lamb scored 18 points and ]the Huskies (8-1) beat the visiting Crimson (8-1), spoiling Harvard’s first game as a ranked team.

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

JAMES MADISON 64, MAINE 47: Jasmine Gill and Tarik Hislop scored 13 points apiece for the Dukes (6-1) in a win over the Black Bears (3-6) at Orono.

Samantha Wheeler scored 18 points for Maine.

BOWDOIN 66, BATES 60: Jill Henrikson scored 22 points and Ellery Gould added 18 to lead the Polar Bears (5-2) past the Bobcats (5-2) at Brunswick.

Allie Beaulieu had 13 points for Bates.

(1) BAYLOR 72, WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE 41: Brittney Griner scored 20 points, and Odyssey Sims had 19 points and 11 assists for the Bears (9-0) in their 28th straight home win.

(5) MARYLAND 108, DELAWARE STATE 33: Eight players reached double figures as the Terrapins (10-0) set a school record for margin of victory.

(10) KENTUCKY 72, (6) DUKE 65: A’dia Mathies scored 23 points, freshman Bria Goss added 19 and the Wildcats (9-0) beat the Blue Devils (6-2) at Lexington, Ky.

 


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