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

Tennessee hung on to beat Kentucky 63-60 yesterday, in 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 championship 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.

"We showed enough poise down the stretch to win," said Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, who donned his bright-orange sports coat for the game.

Derrick Jasper hit a 3-pointer to cut the Vols' lead to 63-60, but Jasper and Joe Crawford both missed 3-point shots in the final 20 seconds that would have sent the game to overtime.

"I thought it was in," Crawford said of his shot. "There was no question in my mind."

Tennessee held a 34-27 halftime advantage after leading the entire first half, but Kentucky tied it at 41 when Ramon Harris hit a jumper while being fouled by Duke Crews.

NO. 4 UCLA 68, ARIZONA 66

TUCSON, Ariz. — Kevin Love had 24 points and 15 rebounds and UCLA hung on to defeat Arizona, the Bruins' seventh straight victory over the Wildcats.

The Bruins led by six points with 90 seconds to go, but had to withstand a last-second shot by Jerryd Bayless, which came up short.

UCLA (26-3, 14-2 Pac-10), remained one game ahead of No. 8 Stanford in the Pac-10 race. The Bruins meet the Cardinal on Thursday night in Los Angeles.

Chase Budinger had 24 points for Arizona (17-12, 7-9), which has lost six of seven and is in danger of snapping its 23-year streak of NCAA Tournament appearances, the longest in the nation.

NO. 19 MICHIGAN ST. 103, NO. 12 INDIANA 74

EAST LANSING, Mich. — 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 of the Hoosiers.

Michigan State (23-6, 11-5 Big Ten) led 59-31 at halftime after making 78 percent of its shots, including nine 3-pointers.

Eric Gordon scored 22 and D.J. White had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Hoosiers (24-5, 13-3) who had a chance to pull into a three-way tie with Big Ten leaders Wisconsin and Purdue.

Indiana won its first two games with Dakich in charge following Kelvin Sampson's resignation amid NCAA allegations of major rule infractions.

NO. 13 LOUISVILLE 68, VILLANOVA 54

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Juan Palacios scored 13 points in his final game at Freedom Hall to lead the Cardinals over the Wildcats, 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. The two teams meet in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Louisville beat the Hoyas 59-51 on Feb. 9.

Malcolm Grant led the Wildcats (17-11, 7-9 Big East) with 11 points.

NO. 17 NOTRE DAME 98, DEPAUL 91

ROSEMONT, Ill. — Luke Harangody scored 24 points, Rob Kurz added 21 and the Fighting Irish hung on to beat the Blue Demons to clinch a first-round bye in the Big East tournament.

The Fighting 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.

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