NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee's first stint as the No. 1 team in the country will likely be brief.

A day after reaching the top spot for the first time in school history, the Volunteers were upset by No. 18 Vanderbilt, 72-69, last night.

No worries, say the Vols.

"I want to be ranked No. 1 at the end of the year," senior guard Chris Lofton said.

The Volunteers will remain No. 1 until the next poll Monday, then will probably drop after Shan Foster scored 32 points to lead the Commodores.

The Vols (25-3, 11-2 Southeastern Conference) beat then-No. 1 Memphis on Saturday night, 66-62, on the western edge of Tennessee for their ninth straight victory to earn that spot themselves, then had to travel back to the middle part of the state to defend their top ranking for the first time.

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said his Vols were fine, not exhausted by two emotional and physical road games against instate rivals in about 72 hours.

"I thought we put ourselves in a position in the second half on the road to be able to gut one out again, and they got a period there in the second half defensively where we just fouled them and sent them to the foul line a boatload of times. I thought that was a real difference," Pearl said.

Vanderbilt (24-4, 9-4) has hosted the No. 1 team nine times in its 56 years at Memorial Gym, and the Commodores improved to 6-3 overall in those games with victories in the last four, including then-No. 1 Florida last year. The Commodores also now have won all 18 home games this season and 31 of their last 32.

NO. 12 INDIANA 72, OHIO STATE 69

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Armon Bassett scored 23 points and Eric Gordon added 17 to lead the Hoosiers (24-4, 13-2 Big Ten) past the Buckeyes (17-11, 8-7) for Dan Dakich's first coaching victory at Assembly Hall. Dakich replaced Kelvin Sampson as Indiana's coach Friday, after Sampson resigned amid a phone-call scandal. Dakich barely won his first game Saturday night at Northwestern.

NO. 15 CONNECTICUT 79, RUTGERS 61

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Jeff Adrien scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Huskies (22-6, 11-4 Big East) to a victory over the Scarlet Knights (10-19, 2-14). Stanley Robinson, who had 13 rebounds, and Craig Austrie both added 18 points for Connecticut, which moved one game ahead of Marquette in fourth place in the Big East Conference, the last spot that secures a first-round bye in the league's tournament.

MISSOURI ST. 86, NO. 20 DRAKE 83

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Deven Mitchell scored 20 points and the Bears (15-15, 7-10 Missouri Valley) closed the John Q. Hammons Student Center with an impressive victory, topping the Bulldogs (24-4, 13-3).

WOMEN'S TOP 25

PITTSBURGH 77, NO. 13 WEST VIRGINIA 75

PITTSBURGH — Shavonte Zellous scored 29 points to help the Panthers (19-8, 9-5 Big East) beat the Mountaineers (22-5, 11-3) in overtime, ending a four-game losing streak for Pittsburgh. LaQuita Owens missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer of overtime. Chakhia Cole tied the game with 9.9 seconds left in regulation and Pittsburgh had a chance for one last shot, but Mallorie Winn's 3-pointer missed.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS TAKES STEP TO NORMALCY

DEKALB, Ill. — The message was impossible to miss: "Forward, Together Forward," read the banner hanging outside the arena.

A line in Northern Illinois' fight song, it's now a mantra for a school and community still recovering.

NIU took another small step last night, when it hosted Western Michigan in the first athletic event on campus since a gunman killed five students in a lecture hall before taking his own life Feb. 14.

For the record, Western Michigan won, 56-49, behind a 16-point effort from David Kool. But this clearly wasn't an ordinary game.

"It should serve as some therapy for all of us," NIU coach Ricardo Patton said.

The teams gathered arm-in-arm in a circle at midcourt while observing a moment of silence before the game. Then, they shook hands and stood at opposite foul lines as the NIU alma mater and the Star Spangled banner played.

Western Michigan (17-10, 10-3) is trying to capture the Mid-America Conference championship. NIU (6-18, 3-9) is simply seeking some semblance of normalcy.

"We felt like coming out here, playing hard and trying to get the win would help," Huskies guard Darion Anderson said.

Northern Illinois players and coaches wore ribbons, as did many in the crowd, while Western Michigan paid tribute with NIU patches.