COLUMBUS, Ohio – A ball that rattled around the rim and bounced out helped separate Michigan from its first No. 1 ranking in more than 20 years.
Trey Burke's stepback jumper with 17 seconds went most of the way down, then came all of the way out, and No. 2 Michigan lost 56-53 to No. 15 Ohio State on Sunday.
After No. 1 Duke lost to North Carolina State on Saturday, the Wolverines were in position to ascend to No. 1 for the first time since November 1992. Instead, they went home with their first loss, also depriving them of the best start in school history.
"Some go in, and some don't," said Burke, a former Columbus high school star who is friends with several of the Buckeyes. "I thought it was going in. It looked good."
Michigan (16-1, 3-1 Big Ten Conference) trailed 52-50 and had the ball as the clocked ticked down. Everyone in a capacity crowd of 18,809 knew Burke likely would take the last shot.
Aaron Craft, whom Michigan coach John Beilein said was as good as any defender he had ever seen, prevented Burke from driving. His path blocked, Burke jumped back and launched the shot that rimmed out.
Ohio State's Lenzelle Smith Jr. grabbed the rebound. A moment later, he was fouled and sank two free throws. Craft, who has struggled on offense most of the season, then made two free throws to more than offset Burke's circus three-pointer with a second left.
The Buckeyes (13-3, 3-1) did most of their offensive damage early, going ahead by 21 in the first half. DeShaun Thomas led Ohio State with 20 points.
Oregon 68, Arizona State 65 in Eugene, Ore. – Tony Woods scored 14 points, including the go-ahead dunk in the closing minutes, as the Ducks (14-2, 3-0 Pacific-12 Conference) held off the Sun Devils (14-3, 3-1).
Women
No. 1 Baylor 82, No. 17 Kansas 60 in Lawrence, Kan. – Brittney Griner had 33 points as the Bears (14-1, 4-0 Big 12 Conference) routed the Jayhawks (11-4, 2-2).
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
• Read more articles by Associated Press
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.