No. 5 Ohio State Edges No. 16 Tennessee

Marquette's bench reacts to David Cubillan's (10) three-pointer during the Golden Eagles' 81-63 win over West Virginia. "We never wanted to stop running," Marquette Coach Tom Crean said. (By Darren Hauck -- Associated Press)

Ron Lewis finally gave Ohio State fans something to smile about.

Lewis hit a three-pointer with 12 seconds left to help the fifth-ranked Buckeyes beat No. 16 Tennessee, 68-66, yesterday in Columbus, Ohio.

Asked what he was thinking about as he came off a weave and popped free at the top of the key, Lewis said: "I just thought about winning. I didn't know how many points we were down. I just knew we needed a bucket to win."

His shot -- he had made just one of his four shots before that -- saved Ohio State's fans from what had been a bleak week.

Ohio State's football team was humiliated 41-14 by Florida in the BCS national championship game on Monday night. The Buckeyes fell to 0-8 in bowl games against Southeastern Conference teams.

Lewis's basket finally gave Ohio State a win over an SEC team. It also provided the Buckeyes with their first win against a ranked team this season after losses to top 10 road opponents North Carolina, Florida and Wisconsin.

"We were 0-3," guard Jamar Butler said. "We talked about getting a win and we finally got one."

It never would have happened without a Herculean effort from center Greg Oden.

Oden played his most dominating game so far -- 24 points, 15 rebounds and numerous shots altered on defense -- to lead the Buckeyes (14-3).

? MARQUETTE 81, WEST VIRGINIA 63: Dominic James snapped out of his shooting slump, scoring 21 to help the Golden Eagles beat the No. 21 Mountaineers in Milwaukee.

Marquette (15-4, 2-2 Big East) used a 10-0 run midway through the second half to pull away from the Mountaineers (13-3, 3-2), who have lost two straight on the road after opening conference play 3-0 at home.