Arizona’s Sean Miller was not expected to coach against Oregon on Saturday night, a day after ESPN reported through anonymous sources that he was heard on an FBI wiretap discussing a $100,000 payment to current Wildcats freshman Deandre Ayton.
The school said Ayton was eligible to play against the Ducks and associate head coach Lorenzo Romar would lead the No. 14 Wildcats.
‘‘I believe it is in the best interest of our team that I not coach the game tonight,’’ Miller said in a statement. ‘‘I continue to fully support the University’s efforts to fully investigate this matter and am confident that I will be vindicated. For now, my thoughts are with our team. They are a great group of young men that will support each other and continue their pursuit of winning a Pac-12 championship.’’
The school did not specify why Miller wouldn’t coach against Oregon or if he would sit out any other games.
ESPN reported Friday night, citing sources familiar with government evidence, that Miller was heard on a wiretap discussing a $100,000 payment to Ayton to sign with the school. ESPN did not say its reporter heard the audio directly.
Also on Saturday, Shaquille O’Neal’s son, Shareef, announced on Twitter he is opening up his recruitment, citing the problems at Arizona. O’Neal is one of the nation’s top high school recruits and previously committed to Arizona.
‘‘At this time I’m opening up my recruitment due to the current events with the UofA Bball team,’’ O’Neal tweeted. ‘‘I would like to thank all the coaches for recruiting me. At the time my family and I think it’s in my best interest to look at other options to assure my play in the NCAA next year.’’
Meanwhile, Michigan State said its star player, Miles Bridges, was cleared to play by the NCAA. Documents showed Bridges may have improperly accepted benefits from an agency implicated in the federal investigation.
“Michigan State presented its findings to the NCAA, and Miles Bridges has been cleared for competition moving forward, beginning Sunday at Wisconsin,’’ Michigan State interim athletic director Bill Beekman said in a statement Saturday.
Bridges is averaging 17-plus points and nearly seven rebounds for the second-ranked Spartans.
Miami 79, Boston College 78 — Lonnie Walker IV’s 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds remaining capped a 14-point comeback and lifted the host Hurricanes over the Eagles.
Miami (20-8, 9-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) was down 2 when Walker retrieved the inbounds pass, dribbled toward the top of the key, and launched his 3-pointer to cap Miami’s comeback. Walker finished with 14 points.
The Eagles (16-13, 6-10) couldn’t attempt a game-winning shot as Jerome Robinson failed to retrieve the length-of-the-court inbounds pass.
Chris Lykes scored 11 of his 15 points in the final four minutes for Miami. Dewan Huell scored 16 points and Anthony Lawrence II was the Hurricanes’ fourth double-digit scorer with 13 points.
Jordan Chatman’s 5 points in a 10-2 run midway through the second half keyed the Eagles to their first double-digit lead. His two free throws with 9:52 remaining closed the surge and gave BC a 60-48 advantage.
Robinson’s two free throws with 6:16 gave the Eagles their largest lead at 67-53. Robinson scored a game-high 30 points and Nik Popovic and Ky Bowman finished with 17 and 15 points, respectively, for BC.
Northeastern 81, Elon 59 — Vasa Pusica tied his career high with 31 points and the visiting Huskies scored 21 of the final 27 points to win a share of the Colonial Athletic Association title.
Northeastern (21-9, 14-4) won seven in a row to tie College of Charleston, which swept the season series against the Huskies, atop the conference standings.
Bolden Brace threw down a dunk to cap a 6-0 spurt that gave Northeastern a 56-47 lead midway through the second half.
Tyler Seibring hit a jumper to pull Elon (14-15, 6-10) within 7, but Pusica converted a 3-point play and Shawn Occeus hit a 3-pointer and, after Seibring hit another jumper, Pusica made a three to push the lead to 69-55 with 4:21 to play. The Huskies closed on a 12-4 run, including seven-straight points by Pusica to cap the scoring.
Occeus had 13 points while Brace and Donnell Gresham scored 11 apiece for Northeastern.
George Mason 78, UMass 76 — C.J. Anderson scored 21 points and the visiting Minutemen (11-18, 4-12 Atlantic 10) overcame a 16-point halftime deficit before falling to the Patriots (14-15, 8-8) in overtime.
Otis Livingston II had 7 of his 22 points in overtime and assisted on Ian Boyd’s winning basket for George Mason.
UMass opened the second half with a 14-2 run and taking a 57-55 lead on Rayshawn Miller’s basket with 2:21 left. The Minutemen led, 64-61, but fouled Goanar Mar on a 3-point attempt with 0.9 seconds left and Mar made all three foul shots to force overtime.
BU 61, Army 59 — Walter Whyte completed a 3-point play with 11 seconds left to lift the visiting Terriers (14-15, 10-8) over the Black Knights (13-16, 6-12) in the Patriot League regular-season finale.
BU led by 12 at intermission, but Army stormed back with a 14-3 run sparked by an Alex King three and capped by a Jordan Fox trey that got the Black Knights within 38-37. King hit a three to give Army a 59-56 lead with 1:43 left, but the Black Knights didn’t score again.
Whyte, Javante McCoy, and Cedric Hankerson each scored 10 points for BU.
Colgate 59, Holy Cross 53 — Jacob Grandison scored 16 points and helped the visiting Crusaders (11-18, 8-10 Patriot) build a 10-point first-half lead, but the Raiders (17-12, 12-6) rallied behind Sean O’Brien, who scored 12 of his 13 points in the second half.
Vermont 69, Stony Brook 60 — Trae Bell-Haynes had 19 points, including 6 in the final four minutes, and Payton Henson added 17 points and nine rebounds to help the visiting Catamounts (24-6, 14-1 America East) drop the Seawolves (12-18, 7-9).
Bell-Haynes found Nate Rohrer for a tie-breaking layup and Henson converted a 3-point play to spark a 15-6 run over the final 5:26. Stony Brook trimmed its deficit to 61-58 with 1:48 to play, but Ernie Duncan answered with a layup before Bell-Haynes and Drew Urquhart made 6 of 6 free throws from there to seal.
Henson’s tipin with 6:54 left gave him 1,000 career points.
Providence 74, Georgetown 69 — Rodney Bullock had 19 points with five 3-pointers and the Friars (18-11, 9-7 Big East) beat the host Hoyas (15-12, 5-11) for the eighth straight time.
Men’s hockey
NU 4, New Hampshire 0 — Freshman Cayden Primeau made 28 saves in getting his fourth shutout and the 11th-ranked Huskies (21-8-5, 15-6-3) beat the host Wildcats (10-18-6, 5-14-5) to clinch second place in Hockey East, their highest finish since 2008-09.
BU 1, Vermont 1 — Alex Esposito scored 38 seconds into the third period to offset Jordan Greenway’s first-period strike and the visiting Catamounts (9-18-7, 6-12-6 Hockey East) earned a tie with the Terriers (17-13-4, 12-8-4).
Yale 2, Harvard 1 — Kevin O’Neil’s second goal, coming with 3:16 left, lifted the host Bulldogs (15-13-1, 10-11-1 ECAC) over the Crimson (13-12-4, 11-8-3), who were limited to Henry Bowlby’s third-period tally.
Women’s hockey
BU 4, Maine 1 — Rebecca Leslie scored twice and the Terriers (14-16-6) beat the host Black Bears (18-13-5) to force a deciding third game in their Hockey East quarterfinal series.
BC 6, Vermont 1 — Makenna Newkirk had two goals and an assist and the third-ranked Eagles (30-3-3) swept the visiting Catamounts (10-20-5) in their Hockey East quarterfinal series.
NU 2, New Hampshire 1 — Tori Sullivan scored both goals, including the winner 1:11 into the second period, as the host Huskies (17-16-3) swept the Wildcats (14-15-7) in their Hockey East quarterfinal series.
Colgate 6, Harvard 1 — Brooke Jovanovich scored in the first period but it was all Colgate after that as the No. 4 Raiders (31-4-1) swept the best-of-three ECAC quarterfinal series from the Crimson (13-16-2).
