Ifeanyl Onyekaba scored 21 points to lead the University of Rhode Island to a 97-77 win over the University of Maine in a season-opening America East basketball game in Kingston, R.I.

Rhode Island grabbed a 52-35 lead in the first half with 11 points from Onyekaba, 12 from forward Jarelle Reischel and 10 from guard Xavier Munford. Reischel finished with 18 points and Munford 11. Hassan Martin contributed 13 points off the bench.

High scorer for the Black Bears was Xavier Pollard with 23 points, including a 5-for-5 effort at the free-throw line. Dimitry Coronel added 18 points and Zarko Valjarevic added 10.

Rhode Island outmatched the Black Bears on the boards, snagging 55 rebounds to Maine’s 28.

MEN’S HOCKEY

CASTLETON STATE 4, USM 2: Freshman Corbin Marcotte had a goal and an assist for the Spartans in a season-opening ECAC East win over the University of Southern Maine at Rutland, Vermont.

Todd Bannerman and Zach Klippenstein scored the Huskies’ goals.

USM goaltender Dylan Wells finished with 28 saves. Castleton goalie Erick Cinotti saved 24.

SKIDMORE 5, UNE 2: Vlad Gavrik scored a hat trick to lead Skidmore (2-0-0, 1-0-0 ECAC East) over the University of New England (1-1-1, 0-1-0), at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Sean Sullivan struck first for the Nor’easters 4:33 into the match. Skidmore responded with three goals in less than five minutes.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

CASTLETON STATE 4, UNE 1: Nicoline Jensen and Anna Daniels were involved in all four Castleton State goals as the Spartans (2-1-0) defeated the University of New England (1-2-1) at Rutland, Vt.

Shannon Smith had the lone goal for the Nor’easters.

UNE goalie Samantha Scobee finished with 38 saves. Castleton netminder Paula Stephens faced just 15 shots, stopping 14.

USM 4, PLYMOUTH STATE 1: Erin Banfield and Chelsea Boucher both scored power-play goals to get the University of Southern Maine (2-0, 1-0 LEC) started in its win over Plymouth State (1-2, 0-1) in Gorham.

Banfield gave the Huskies the lead midway through the first period with help from Ally Vanidestine and Anne-Marie Provencal. Banfield and Provencal assisted on Boucher’s goal with 5:14 left in the second period to give USM a 2-0 edge. Vanidestine and Maggie Lane added goals in the first four minutes of the third period to put the game out of reach.

Southern Maine goalie Liz Bergstrom record 20 saves for the win. For Plymouth, goalies Jennifer Wisiewski and Ali Ponte combined for 19 saves.

TOP 25 MEN’s BASKETBALL

(1) KENTUCKY 89, UNC-ASHEVILLE 57: Julius Randle scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half to lead five Kentucky players in double figures and help the host top-ranked Wildcats’ highly touted freshman class debut successfully with an season-opening rout.

(2) MICHIGAN. STATE 98, MCNEESE STATE 56: Gary Harris flourished, as expected, scoring 15 of his 20 points in the first half and finishing with a career-high 10 rebounds to help the host Spartans easily win at home in a tuneup for their next game against top-ranked Kentucky.

(4) DUKE 111, DAVIDSON 77: Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood each scored 22 points in their first game for the Blue Devils, who won big at home.

(5) KANSAS 80, UL-MONROE 63: Andrew Wiggins scored 16 points in his highly anticipated debut, leading the Jayhawks to victory at home over Louisiana-Monroe.

(7) MICHIGAN. 69, UMASS-LOWELL 42: Glenn Robinson III scored 15 points and the Wolverines pulled away at home in the second half to beat the Division I newcomer River Hawks.

NCAA FOOTBALL

(20 LOUISVILLE 31, CONN. 10: Teddy Bridgewater threw for 288 yards and a touchdown to lead the Cardinals (8-1, 4-1 AAC) over the winless Huskies.

The Huskies are 0-9 since upsetting the Cardinals in three overtimes last November in Louisville.