The University of Maine women’s basketball team will get a bye into the semifinals of the America East tournament and could host both a semifinal and the league championship game, according to the tournament format announced Wednesday.

Maine will be the No. 1 seed and won’t play its semifinal until March 7. If the Black Bears win that game, the final would be March 12 in Orono, pending approval from state officials to host the game.

The other six America East teams still playing this winter are scheduled to play quarterfinals on Feb. 28.

Maine (15-2, 12-2) ends its regular season Saturday with a 2 p.m. home game against New Hampshire.

(1) UCONN 77, ST. JOHN’S 32: Christyn Williams scored 21 points and Paige Bueckers added 20 to help visiting UConn (17-1, 14-0 Big East) beat St. John’s (6-12, 3-9).

UConn moved up to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 on Monday for the first time this season. It’s the 246th week since the 1994-95 season that the Huskies have held the top spot. They have been No. 1 for at least one week in each of the past nine seasons. The next closest active streak is two years in a row.

(9) MARYLAND 103, ILLINOIS 58: Katie Benzan scored 22 points, including 6 of 12 from 3-point range, to lead host Maryland (15-2, 11-1 Big Ten) over Illinois (3-14, 1-13).

Chloe Bibby had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Terrapins, who extended their winning streak to four games. Ashley Owusu added 17 points and seven assists, and Diamond Miller had 11 points and seven assists for Maryland.

The Terrapins lead the nation with 91.7 points per game, but their defense was just as impressive, smothering the Fighting Illini.

(12) SOUTH FLORIDA 69, CINCINNATI 65: Sydni Harvey scored eight of her 23 points in overtime, Bethy Mununga had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and South Florida (12-1, 10-0 American Athletic Conference) beat Cincinnati (4-14, 3-11)  at Tampa, Florida.

(19) DEPAUL 83, XAVIER 75: Lexi Held scored 25 points, Sonya Morris added 22 points and Dee Bekelja had 20 as visiting DePaul (13-4, 10-2 Big East Conference) beat Xavier in the Musketeers’ first game since Jan. 23.

DePaul led by as many as 15 points in the second half, but Xavier got within 65-62 early in the fourth quarter. The Blue Demons answered with a 7-2 run, with four points from Morris, to rebuild a two-possession lead they would hold the rest of the way despite only making one field goal in the final four minutes.

Morris reached 1,000 career points on a layup in the fourth quarter.

NEBRASKA 71, (24) NORTHWESTERN 64: Kate Cain matched a career-high with 22 points, Isabelle Bourne had 21 points and a career-best 17 rebounds, and visiting Nebraska (10-9, 8-8 Big Ten) pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Northwestern (11-5, 9-5).

Nebraska ended a four-game losing streak despite committing 28 turnovers, and swept the season series against Northwestern. The Cornhuskers won the first meeting 65-63 on Sam Haiby’s buzzer-beating putback.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

(17) USC 89, ARIZONA STATE 71: Evan Mobley had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and host Southern California (18-2, 12-2 Pac 12) beat Arizona State (7-10, 4-7).

Isaiah Mobley added 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Tahj Eaddy had 18 points for the Trojans, who improved to 18-3 to start a season for the first time since 1973-74.

Pac-12 scoring leader Remy Martin scored 30 points – three off his career high – for Arizona State.

(22) LOYOLA CHICAGO 54, VALPARAISO 52: Keith Clemons scored 16 points, Cameron Krutwig added 13 and host Loyola Chicago (19-4, 14-2 Missouri Valley Conference) made a defensive stop in the final seconds to hang on to beat Valparaiso (8-15, 5-9).

The Ramblers have won 12 of 13 and extended their home winning streak to 20 games.

(23) KANSAS 59, KANSAS STATE 41: Marcus Garrett scored 14 points, Jalen Wilson added 11 and visiting Kansas (16-7, 10-5 Big 12) beat Kansas State (5-18, 1-13).

The Jayhawks held the Wildcats to a season low in points despite a ho-hum offensive performance.

Kansas shot 46% (22 for 48) from the field and held Kansas State (5-18, 1-13) to 31% on 18-for-58 shooting.

FOOTBALL

CANCELED: The Nebraska-Illinois football game scheduled for August in Ireland has been called off because of the pandemic.

The game will be played Aug. 28 in Champaign, Illinois, instead.

Officials said the decision was made after consultations with the Irish government, medical experts and the administrative staffs at the schools.

The teams had been set to play in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Game organizers said they hope Illinois and Nebraska can play in Ireland in the future.