Top 25 Men's Basketball | Top-ranked Vols fend off Wildcats

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Chris Lofton is tired and sore. It has been that kind of week for him and his fellow Volunteers.

Tennessee hung on to beat Kentucky 63-60 on Sunday, finishing a week that included the Vols' first No. 1 ranking in school history on Monday and a loss to No. 18 Vanderbilt on Tuesday.

"That's college basketball," Lofton said. "It's something we have to deal with and get over."

The Vols have played three straight games against their biggest rivals, including a win over then-No. 1 Memphis, and needed the win over Kentucky to stay atop the Southeastern Conference.

"Altogether, I think it was a great week for us, even though we lost our No. 1 spot," Tennessee forward Tyler Smith said. "We're still happy with where we're at."

With one more win, Tennessee (26-3, 12-2) will capture the SEC East Division and a share of the conference title. But the Vols are trying to earn their first outright SEC regular-season title in 41 years.

All of that was put in peril when the Vols squandered a big early lead against Kentucky (16-11, 10-4). Lofton scored 14 points, including a jump shot with 1:15 left, as Tennessee hung on to avoid consecutive losses for the first time this season.

Derrick Jasper hit a three-pointer to cut the Vols' lead to 63-60, but Jasper and Joe Crawford both missed three-point shots in the final 20 seconds that would have sent the game to overtime.

"We showed enough poise down the stretch to win," said Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl.

Ramel Bradley led Kentucky with 17 points.

"It's a tough loss. We had the chance of winning against a very good team on their home court," Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie said.

Other games

At No. 19 Michigan State 103, No. 12 Indiana 74

Raymar Morgan scored 12 of his 20 points early to help Michigan State build a big lead and beat Indiana, allowing the Spartans to finish undefeated at home and hand Dan Dakich his first loss as interim coach.

Michigan State (23-6, 11-5 Big Ten) led 59-31 at halftime after making 78 percent of its shots, including nine three-pointers.

Eric Gordon scored 22 and D.J. White had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Hoosiers (24-5, 13-3).

At No. 13 Louisville 68, Villanova 54

Juan Palacios scored 13 points in his final game at Freedom Hall to lead Louisville to a win over Villanova, setting up a showdown with No. 11 Georgetown next weekend for the Big East title.

Jerry Smith added 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead a balanced offense by the Cardinals (24-6, 14-3 Big East), who won their ninth straight and remained tied with the Hoyas for first-place in the Big East.

Malcolm Grant led the Wildcats (17-11, 7-9) with 11 points, but Villanova shot just 40 percent and made 14 turnovers.

No. 17 Notre Dame 98, at DePaul 91

Luke Harangody scored 24 points, and Notre Dame hung on to beat DePaul to clinch a first-round bye in the Big East tournament.

The Irish (22-6, 12-4) built a 47-31 halftime lead and started the second with a 13-2 run that made it 60-32. Then, things got interesting.

DePaul (10-18, 5-11) pulled to seven late in the game, and leading the way was freshman Dar Tucker, who scored a career-high 28 points.

Note

• Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin had surgery on his right knee and will miss the Sooners' final two regular-season basketball games. Griffin partially tore the medial meniscus in the first half of Oklahoma's 64-37 win against Texas A&M on Saturday.