AMHERST, Mass. — Tre Mitchell scored 23 points as Massachusetts cruised to a 74-53 victory over Maine on Friday night.
Mitchell buried 9 of 17 shots from the floor, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range, for the Minutemen (6-6), who snapped a six-game losing streak. Mitchell added seven rebounds. Carl Pierre tallied 14 points, Sean East II provided 12 points, six assists and five boards and C.J. Jackson scored 10.
Nedeljko Prijovic led the Black Bears (3-9) with 14 points. Sergio El Darwich, who was second on the Black Bears in scoring heading into the matchup with 10 points per game, shot only 18 percent for the game (2 of 11).
Vilgot Larsson added nine points while leading scorer Andrew Fleming managed four points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots but fouled out in 26 minutes of action.
UMaine committed 20-plus turnovers team for the fourth time this year with 21 miscues. The Black Bears forced 13 turnovers that they turned into 15 points.
UMaine shot 39.6% (19-48) from the field on the evening, but hit only 25% (4-16) from 3-point range and 61.1% (11-18) from the free-throw line.
UMass plays Akron on the road next Monday. UMaine plays Hawaii on the road next Sunday.