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Tennessee steps out of conference to face Ohio State

Jan 19, 2008 - 1:57 PM Ohio St (12-5) at No. 7 Tennessee (15-1) 3:30 pm EST

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Seventh-ranked Tennessee hopes to avenge a bitter loss when it faces Ohio State on Saturday.

In the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament last season, Tennessee squandered a 17-point halftime lead in an 85-84 loss to Ohio State.

Tennessee does enter this game on a 10-game winning streak, its longest run since opening the 1999-200 campaign with 11 straight wins.

Off to its best start since starting 16-1 in 2000-01, Tennessee is 0-4 all-time against Ohio State.

The Buckeyes have dropped two straight, including a 66-60 decision to No. 11 Michigan State on Tuesday.

"I can't change it. It's one of those games where you've got to go down and play it," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "It's always good every now and then to play a game like this out of the Big Ten season, but now that we've gone to 18 (conference) games, I'm not sold it's the best place."

Senior guard JaJuan Smith leads Tennessee in scoring at 14.8 points per game. Senior guard Jamar Butler is averaging 15.1 points for the Buckeyes.