Ohio State denies Michigan

A BALL THAT rattled around the rim and bounced out separated Michigan from its first No. 1 ranking in more than 20 years. Point guard Trey Burke's stepback jumper with 17 seconds went down, then came out, leaving No. 2 Michigan on the wrong side of a 56-53 loss to rival and 15th-ranked Ohio State on Sunday.

After No. 1 Duke lost to North Carolina State a day earlier, the Wolverines were in prime 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 sophomore who just happens to be from Columbus and is friends with several of the Buckeyes. "I thought it was going in. It looked good. I think it went in and then came out."

Michigan (16-1, 3-1 Big Ten) trailed 52-50 and had the ball as the seconds ticked away. Everyone in a hoarse, capacity crowd of 18,809 knew that Burke, a star at Columbus' Northland High School where he was a teammate of former Buckeye Jared Sullinger, would likely 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 then launched the shot.

"We were up two, so that makes it a little more challenging for me," said Craft, selected as the Big Ten's top defender a year ago. "Fortunately enough for me, that shot he took rimmed in and out. I kind of turned around [and saw] we grabbed the rebound."

Lenzelle Smith Jr. grabbed the rebound. A moment later he was fouled again and hit two free throws for breathing room. Craft, who had struggled on offense most of the season, then made two more foul shots to more than offset Burke's circus three-pointer with a second left.

At East Lansing, Mich., Derrick Nix made two free throws with a minute left and finished with 17 points to help No. 22 Michigan State pull away for a 66-56 victory over Nebraska.

The Spartans (14-3, 3-1 Big Ten) have won three straight and kept the Cornhuskers (9-8, 0-4) from winning their first conference game this season.

Nebraska's David Rivers had 18 points, Dylan Talley scored 17 and Ray Gallegos added 12.

* At Evansville, Ind., Colt Ryan had 24 points and eight assists and Evansville made seven free throws over the final last 1:25 to hold off No. 23 Wichita State for a 71-67 victory. The Aces (11-6, 4-1 Missouri Valley Conference) took advantage of a season-high 22 turnovers by Wichita State (15-2, 4-1) to win their fourth straight conference game.