Michigan Is Belted by Purdue

Michigan Coach Steve Fisher decided to go with a three-guard offense against Purdue on Sunday in hopes of snapping the No. 18 Wolverines out of a slump and reviving their NCAA tournament hopes, but the move backfired in a 67-58 Big Ten Conference loss at West Lafayette, Ind.

Fisher sat down forward Jerod Ward, who scored a career-high 19 points last month as Michigan defeated Purdue, 67-52, in favor of guard Brandun Hughes. But Ward didn’t respond to the reserve role and he quickly got into foul trouble and was limited to only three points in seven minutes.

Purdue outscored Michigan, 23-7, from the free-throw line, overcoming 40% shooting from the field. Chad Austin led the way with 25 points.

The Wolverines, 17-9 overall and in seventh place at 7-7 in the Big Ten, have lost four of five games and are in danger of missing the NCAA tournament. Purdue (15-10, 10-5) is in second place in the Big Ten.

Florida State 67, No. 8 Clemson 65--The Seminoles’ Kerry Thompson banked in a 12-foot follow shot as time expired in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Clemson, S.C.

Thompson missed a three-point attempt with less than five seconds left, then dashed into the lane, grabbed the rebound and shot again.

Clemson (20-7, 8-6) lost for the third time in four games. The Seminoles are 15-9 and 5-9.

No. 19 Villanova 65, Connecticut 58--The Wildcats (20-7, 11-5) moved into first place in the Big East Six with this victory at Philadelphia. The Huskies (14-11, 7-9) started three freshmen and two sophomores.

OTHER GAMES

Joezon Darby’s three-point shot from the baseline with 16.5 seconds remaining lifted Mississippi to a 67-65 victory over Florida at Gainesville, Fla, and clinched the No. 1 seeding in the West Division for the Southeastern Conference tournament for the Rebels (17-7, 9-5), who have not won 17 games in a regular season in 14 years. Florida, which has only six scholarship players, fell to 13-14 and 5-9. . . . Mississippi State avenged a 98-64 SEC loss to Arkansas on Jan. 21 by defeating the Razorbacks, 93-77, in Starkville, Miss. The Bulldogs (12-15, 6-8) shot 65%, their best shooting effort in an SEC game in 11 seasons, and the 93 points were the most by the Bulldogs in a conference game in two seasons. Before the game, Arkansas (14-10, 7-7) officials announced that they plan to make public today their 100-plus-page response to an NCAA letter of inquiry alleging seven violations against the basketball team.

North Carolina-Charlotte (18-6, 9-3) strengthened its NCAA tournament chances by defeating Alabama Birmingham, 86-74, in a Conference USA game at Charlotte, N.C. . . . Dylan Osean scored five points in the final 52 seconds as Tulane (18-9, 9-3) managed an 81-77 Conference USA victory over host Houston (11-13, 3-9).