Before his team traveled to face No. 14 Michigan State on Tuesday, Purdue coach Matt Painter talked openly about the No. 13 Boilermakers improving on the defensive end after allowing 94 points in a loss to then-No. 16 Wisconsin. Purdue (19-8, 11-5 Big Ten) has fallen into a tie for fourth in the conference with Maryland heading into the weekend. A double bye for the Big Ten tournament, which seemed certain for most of the year, is now in jeopardy if the Boilermakers can’t correct their defensive struggles. Another poor defensive showing resulted in a 75-66 loss to Michigan State, likely knocking Purdue out of the race for the Big Ten regular-season title. The Boilermakers allowed the Spartans to shoot

At 5:00 ET, the Bulls will host the Suns in a non-conference matchup. The Suns (-178) are favored by 4.5 points over the Bulls (+151), and the over/under line is set at 238.5. Phoenix comes into this game on a four-game losing streak and is currently 11th in the Western Conference. The Bulls have lost five in a row and are 10th in the East. The Suns dropped to 26-29 on the season after a 120-109 road loss to the Spurs on Thursday. Phoenix, favored by 2.5 points, not only lost but also failed to cover the spread. The game’s total of 229 points fell short of the 238.5-point O/U line. Phoenix went on a 13-0 run, extending their lead

Building resumes for the NCAA Tournament will be a priority when No. 18 Clemson travels to Dallas to play SMU in an Atlantic Coast Conference game on Saturday afternoon. Clemson (21-5, 13-2) is tied with Louisville for second place in the conference, trailing Duke by 1 1/2 games. The Tigers have won three consecutive games and nine of the past 10, including a 72-46 thrashing of Florida State last Saturday. The Tigers’ 77-71 home victory over then-No. 2 Duke on Feb. 8 was the highlight of their recent surge. Viktor Lakhin paced Clemson with 22 points. Chase Hunter leads the Tigers with an average of 17 ppg this season. Ian Schieffelin is next at 12.5, and Lakhin is third at

Miami will try to ease its suffering amid its worst season in 31 years when it hosts Virginia Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference game on Saturday evening. Miami (6-20, 2-13) has won its two most recent home games, over Notre Dame and Syracuse, but has lost its two most recent games overall—at Pitt last Saturday and at Florida State on Wednesday. Miami, which hasn’t finished with a winning percentage under .260 since the 1993-94 season (.259), is led in scoring by shooting guard Matthew Cleveland at 16.3 points per game and in rebounds by center Lynn Kidd at 7.2. Kidd also is averaging 11.1 points per game while shooting 65.9 percent from the field for the Hurricanes, who currently