KNOXVILLE, TENN. ? Georgia couldn’t keep Tennessee’s Ron Slay far enough away from the basket.

When the 6-foot-8 forward couldn’t score inside because of the No. 17 Bulldogs’ zone defense, he popped out and hit three-pointers from the top of the key.

Slay finished with 33 points Saturday, and Thaydeus Holden made six free throws down the stretch as the Volunteers toppled Georgia, 78-72, earning their first victory over a ranked team in five tries this season.

“Ron Slay had two shots from 28 feet. I really didn’t expect Slay to be 4-for-5 from the three-point arc,” Georgia coach Jim Harrick said. “He was incredible today.”

Despite Slay’s shooting, the Vols still managed to make it a close game. They broke a tie and took the lead for good after Slay made the first of two free throws with 2:04 left.

But Tennessee’s lead wasn’t comfortable until the final seconds. The Vols (13-6, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) had lost three of the previous five games against Georgia (13-6, 5-3) in overtime or at the buzzer, including last month’s meeting in Athens.

“Is it surprising we won the game? When you have a stouthearted team like this, you can’t say it is a surprise,” Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson said. “In a way, we got over a big hump today, in that we beat a ranked team. That is very satisfying.”

The officiating crew Saturday had to cover extra ground late. Referee Bernard Clinton was injured with nine minutes left and limped off the court, meaning Tony Greene and Ed Corbett had to call the game by themselves the rest of the way.

Holden finished with 15 points, and Brandon Crump had 16. Slay was 12-of-18 from the floor.

“I was getting a lot of open looks I usually don’t get,” Slay said. “I was ready to knock it down every time it came to me.”

Georgia was led by Jarvis Hayes with 19 points, while Chris Daniels added 14 points and 12 rebounds. Reserve Damien Wilkins scored 11.

Minnesota's Michael Bauer, left, and Rick Rickert (1) celebrate after their win against No. 24 Purdue. Rickert scored a game-high 26 points and Bauer added 17 in the Golden Gophers' 90-68 victory Saturday in Minneapolis.

No. 1 Florida 75, No. 22 Alabama 56

Gainesville, Fla. — Matt Bonner scored 21 points to help Florida rediscover its winning ways against slumping Alabama. The Gators (19-3, 8-1 Southeastern Conference), ranked first for the first time in school history, lost 70-55 at Kentucky in their debut game as No. 1 Tuesday. They recovered nicely against Alabama (13-7, 3-6).

No. 2 Arizona 75, Washington State 62

Pullman, Wash. — Jason Gardner scored 19 points to help Arizona beat Washington State for the 36th straight time. Arizona (18-2, 10-1 Pac-10), which needed overtime Thursday to beat Washington, remained unbeaten in six conference road games this season. The Wildcats have not lost to Washington State since Jan. 30, 1986, a 17-year winning streak that currently is the longest in the conference.

No. 5 Louisville 81, Houston 55

Houston — Marvin Stone led a balanced Louisville attack with 17 points as the Cardinals extended their winning streak to 17 games. The win extended Louisville’s best start since opening 19-1 in the 1955-56 season. The Cardinals have the nation’s longest active winning streak, and it is their longest since winning their final 17 games in 1986 — ending with a national title. Reece Gaines scored 16 points for Louisville (18-1, 8-0 Conference USA) to become the ninth player in school history to score 1,700 career points.

No. 6 Kentucky 80, Mississippi 62

Oxford, Miss. — Erik Daniels scored 20 points and Kentucky, playing its 1,000th Southeastern Conference game, earned its 12th straight victory. Keith Bogans added 17 points and Gerald Fitch 14 for coach Tubby Smith, who won his 150th game in five-plus seasons at Kentucky. The Wildcats (18-3, 8-0) have their longest streak since winning 13 in a row in 1998.

No. 13 Creighton 88, Bradley 65

Omaha, Neb. — Michael Lindeman scored a career-high 21 points for Creighton. The Bluejays (21-2, 11-1 Missouri Valley Conference) won their fifth straight game and 13th in a row at home before a sellout crowd of 9,286. Lindeman made all five of his three-point shots, and Creighton finished 13-of-25 from long range. Kyle Korver added 14 points and Joe Dabbert 10 for the Bluejays.

No. 18 Connecticut 84, Providence 68

Providence, R.I. — Emeka Okafor had 21 points, Ben Gordon added 20 and Connecticut, playing without its coach and starting point guard, ended an ugly two-game losing streak with a victory over Providence. This was the second game the Huskies (14-5, 5-3 Big East) played without coach Jim Calhoun, who had surgery to remove a cancerous prostate on Thursday and is expected to miss three-to-four weeks. It was also Connecticut’s first game without injured junior guard Taliek Brown, who is expected to miss four-to-six weeks.

No. 19 Syracuse 94, West Virginia 80

Morgantown, W.Va. — Carmelo Anthony scored a career-high 29 points and had 12 rebounds as Syracuse beat West Virginia. The Orangemen (16-3, 7-2 Big East) trailed by as many as 15 in the first half but outscored West Virginia 48-33 in the second. Billy Edelin scored a career-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting in his seventh collegiate game for Syracuse.

No. 20 Xavier 85, Dayton 77

Cincinnati — David West’s career-high 47 points and 18 rebounds helped Xavier rally from a 15-point deficit. Xavier (17-4, 8-1 Atlantic 10) let its preseason All-America pick apart Dayton’s sagging man-to-man defense. The 6-foot-9 forward went 15-of-26 from the field and 16-of-19 on free throws en route to the second-highest point total in school history. The Flyers (16-4, 8-1) had their nine-game winning streak snapped.

No. 23 Miss. State 84, Arkansas 54

Starkville, Miss. — Mario Austin had 19 points and 12 rebounds as Mississippi State cruised to its biggest blowout of Arkansas in more than 50 years. The Bulldogs (15-5, 5-4 Southeastern Conference), who have won five of their last six, led by at least 26 points the entire second half. Arkansas (7-12, 2-6) shot just 25 percent from the field.

Minnesota 90,No. 24 Purdue 68

Minneapolis– Rick Rickert scored 26 points and Michael Bauer added 17 to lead Minnesota past Purdue. The Golden Gophers (13-7, 5-4 Big Ten), a starkly different team at home than they are on the road, beat the conference’s first-place team for the second consecutive Saturday. They knocked Michigan out of the top spot last weekend with an 87-80 victory at Williams Arena, where they’re 12-2 this season. Willie Deane had 15 points and David Teague 12 for the Boilermakers (15-5, 7-2), who had a four-game winning streak snapped at the end of their first week as a ranked team since March 2000.