COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Tennessee players were huddled around a television set in their locker room Saturday cheering for Xavier to upset Ohio State.

Since then, perhaps lifted by the confidence drawn from a hard-fought 7774 victory over Virginia in the second round of the NCAA tournament Sunday, the Vols' mood has changed.

"We got our rematch, and that's what we wanted,'' said UT freshman center Duke Crews, referring to a 68-66 loss at Ohio State on Jan. 13. "We should have won the first game here. We're a better team right now.''

No. 1-ranked Ohio State (32-3), which beat Xavier in overtime, plays Tennessee on Thursday in a South Regional semifinal game in San Antonio.

The Vols (24-10) folded in the final 30 seconds the last time the teams met, with both Ramar Smith and Chris Lofton missing the front end of 1-and1 free-throw situations, setting up Ohio State's Ron Lewis for the game-winning 3-point shot with 11.2 seconds left.

UT senior Dane Bradshaw joked about Lofton's free-throw miss against the Buckeyes in the aftermath of Lofton's clutch free-throw shooting in the final moments of the win over the Cavaliers.

"He redeemed himself on the Ohio State court that we've all kind of joked with him about,'' Bradshaw said. "(Assistant) Coach (Steve) Forbes nicknamed him 'Buckeye' after that.''

Lofton's nickname when he left Columbus this time might as well have been "hero,'' and it may need to be that once again come Thursday if Tennessee is to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.

Ohio State's win over the Vols was the first in its current 19-game win streak which includes a Big Ten tournament championship and NCAA tournament wins over Central Connecticut State and Xavier.

"I think Ohio State has changed a lot,'' UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "There was some uncertainty for them at that time.

"Greg (Oden) was just starting to come on and they were trying to figure out how to play with him.''

The Buckeyes' plan for the 7-foot, 280-pound Oden at the time the teams met couldn't have been that bad. He scored 24 points and had 15 rebounds in the win over the Vols.

"This is a big opportunity for us,'' UT center Wayne Chism said. "We've gotten a lot better.'' Underset: .23 inches/ 2 lines