Victory May Put Ohio St. At No. 1

MINNEAPOLIS – The last time Ohio State was No. 1 in the AP men’s basketball poll, John Havlicek, Jerry Lucas and a sub named Bob Knight were leading the Buckeyes to the NCAA championship game.

That was 45 years ago, but after Greg Oden and No. 2 Ohio State breezed to an 85-67 victory over Minnesota on Sunday, Hondo and the General might finally have some company.

Oden had 19 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, Ron Lewis scored 16 points and Mike Conley Jr. finished with 10 assists and five steals for Ohio State, which is looking for its first No. 1 ranking since 1962.

"Right now it doesn’t mean as much as it would at the end of March in the tournament," Conley said. "Regardless of what ranking we are – 1, 2, 3, 4 – it doesn’t matter to us. We’re trying to get better as a team and hopefully make a run."

The Buckeyes (24-3, 12-1 Big Ten) have won 11 in a row, with losses only to heavyweights Flor-ida, North Carolina and Wisconsin this season.

Lawrence McKenzie scored 22 points for the Gophers (9-18, 3-10), but he didn’t get nearly the help from his supporting cast that Oden did. The Gophers lost their fifth in a row and 10th in their last 12.

The No. 1 ranking is up for grabs today after top-ranked Flor- ida lost at Vanderbilt on Saturday night, but Ohio State isn’t the only team to have a legitimate claim.

Third-ranked Wisconsin (26-2) is the only Big Ten team to beat the Buckeyes this year and travels to Columbus for a showdown with Ohio State next Sunday.

ARIZONA STATE 68,

NO. 22 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 58

In Tempe, Ariz., Jeff Pender-graph had 14 points and 15 rebounds as Arizona State snapped a 15-game losing streak.

The Sun Devils beat a ranked opponent for the first time since March 20, 2003, when they defeated No. 19 Memphis in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Trailing 32-23 with 15:15 to play, the Sun Devils outscored USC 24-7 to take a 47-39 lead with 6 minutes to go, then hung on for the win.

Derek Glasser added 14 points for Arizona State (7-19, 1-14 Pac- 10), which avoided becoming the first team to go winless in the Pac- 10 since the conference expanded in 1978-79.

Gabe Pruitt scored 22 points and Lodrick Stewart added 18 for the Trojans (19-8, 9-5).

USC was coming off an 80-75 victory at Arizona, its first at Tucson since 1985.

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