PHILADELPHIA — Temple students dressed for an upset, wearing Santa Claus hats and white beards and some even held signs that read "Merry Christmas!"

Dionte Christmas, the reason for all the marketing puns, went out and showed the Temple faithful 'tis might be the season to be jolly. He made them all forget about waiting for presents under the tree to celebrate. Each of his big baskets were reasons the fans could carouse on the court.

Christmas scored a season-high 35 points, including three straight 3-pointers during a game-changing stretch that helped Temple upset No. 8 Tennessee, 88-72, yesterday.

Owls fans stormed the court in a wild celebration for coach Fran Dunphy's biggest win in three seasons.

"We played about as good as we could play," Dunphy said. "Everything just came together."

Christmas delivered with a sensational second half when he hit six of his seven 3-pointers for the Owls (5-3). He made 10 baskets in the second half, holding back the nipping Volunteers and turning this into a rout.

"I didn't think I'd get the looks I got today," Christmas said. "I usually don't get that many good looks. Fortunately, I was knocking them down."

Tennessee (6-2) never led in the game, but cut the deficit to four midway through the second half. Christmas then hit three 3s that stretched the lead to 15 points.

Sergio Olmos had five blocks and a career-high 19 points, including two baskets during Temple's 8-0 run to start the game, and Ryan Brooks had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

"It was a huge game. I was just feeling great," Olmos said. "I was feeling like I could jump more than I ever could."

Tyler Smith led the Volunteers with 17 points and Bobby Maze had 15.

The Volunteers were just the sixth top 10 team to play at the Liacouras Center since 1997 and left to chants of "Overrated!" from the raucous crowd. Tennessee's other loss came to then-No. 9 Gonzaga in November.

"There was something special going on," Dunphy said. "You felt like we were prepared."

The Owls raised a banner before the game celebrating their A-10 tournament championship, then went out and scored the first eight points. Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl called a quick timeout to calm his team and they would tie the score at 15 before falling behind for good.

"Our reputation is we're a team that plays hard and today I don't think we played that hard," Pearl said.

Christmas, a 6-foot-5 senior guard with a knack for explosive games, kept the upset hopes alive with a 3 to start the second half. He also scored the next six points to boost Temple's lead at 14. Christmas went 7-for-14 from 3-point range and 12-of-22 from the field.

Christmas was so hot, he certainly had to impress the 19 NBA teams that sent scouts.

"They got a real show of what an NBA 2 guard can do when he gets going," Pearl said.

NO. 1 N. CAROLINA 100, ORAL ROBERTS 84

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Tyler Hansbrough had 26 points and nine rebounds, and Deon Thompson added 22 points for the Tar Heels (9-0), who had no trouble in their first game following a 10-day exam break, in a rout of the Golden Eagles (2-7).

NO. 3 PITTSBURGH 91, BALTIMORE-MARYLAND 56

PITTSBURGH — Sam Young had 19 points, Gilbert Brown and Ashton Gibbs added 13 points each, and the Panthers improved to 10-0 for the sixth consecutive season under coach Jamie Dixon with a rout of the Retrievers (5-4).

NO. 5 OKLAHOMA 70, UTAH 52

NORMAN, Okla. — Austin Johnson scored 14 points and Blake Griffin, who sat much of the first half after picking up two quick fouls, finished with a season-low 11 points and 11 rebounds as the Sooners (10-0) beat the Utes (5-4) for their best start since 2003-04.

NO. 6 TEXAS 81, TEXAS STATE 73

AUSTIN, Texas — A.J. Abrams scored 30 points, including a two-point jumper and a 3-pointer off a steal for a 70-63 lead with 4:35 to play, then made eight straight free throws down the stretch to help the host Longhorns (8-1) turn back the Bobcats (3-5).

NO. 9 LOUISVILLE 94, AUSTIN PEAY 75

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Sophomore guard Preston Knowles scored a career-high 21 points, including 12 during a 27-6 second-half spurt that turned a 59-54 deficit into a 81-65 lead, as the Cardinals (6-1) pulled away from the Governors (5-3).

NO. 10 XAVIER 76, CINCINNATI 66

CINCINNATI — Derrick Brown had 20 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out on a technical, and the Musketeers (9-0) saw their 17-point second-half lead cut to six before turning back the Bearcats (6-2), who never led after the opening 2 minutes of a game that featured six technical fouls.

OTHER RANKED TEAMS

Luke Harangody had 23 points and 15 rebounds and the Fighting Irish (7-2) finished with a 10-1 run to beat the Terriers (5-4) at South Bend, Ind., extending their home winning streak to 41 games.

NO. 13 SYRACUSE 79, LONG BEACH STATE 55

Arinze Onuaku had 17 points, Eric Devendorf added 13 points and five assists, and the Orange (9-0), coming off a 10-day layoff, used a 18-4 run to open the second half for a 55-34 lead and never looked back in defeating the 49ers (4-4) at Syracuse, N.Y.

NO. 14 PURDUE 76, INDIANA STATE 62

Robbie Hummel scored 20 of his career-high 25 points in the second half, and the host Boilermakers (8-2) used a 13-0 run for a 50-34 lead that never dipped below 10 in beating the Sycamores (1-8) at West Lafayette, Ind.

NO. 16 UCLA 72, DEPAUL 54

Josh Shipp and Jrue Holiday scored 14 points each and the Bruins (6-2) routed the Blue Demons (4-4) in the John R. Wooden Classic doubleheader at Anaheim, Calif., giving coach Ben Howland his 300th career victory against 146 losses.

NO. 19 GEORGETOWN 79, NO. 17 MEMPHIS 70

Chris Wright made a spin move at halfcourt late in overtime, then finished his drive with a layup in heavy traffic for a 72-70 lead with 1:05 left as the Hoyas (7-1) beat the Tigers (5-2) in Washington for their 26th straight home win.

NO. 18 MICHIGAN STATE 118, ALCORN STATE 60

Chris Allen had 20 points, Kalin Lucas added 16, and the Spartans (6-2) used an 18-2 run for a 30-15 lead and never looked back in cruising past the Braves (2-7) at East Lansing, Mich.

NO. 21 OHIO STATE 54, BUTLER 51

Evan Turner scored 14 points, including a 10-footer in the lane for a 53-51 lead with 3:08 left, as the Buckeyes (6-2) missed 4 of 5 free throws down the stretch, but held on to beat the Bulldogs (8-1) at Columbus, Ohio.

NO. 22 BAYLOR 90, PRAIRIE VIEW 63

Henry Dugat scored 18 points, including eight straight in just over a minute midway through the first half to give the Bears (8-1) a 19-18 lead they never relinquished in rolling past the Panthers (3-6) at Waco, Texas.

NO. 23 DAVIDSON 100, CHATTANOOGA 95

Stephen Curry scored 41 points and the Wildcats (8-1) rallied from an early 10-point deficit, then held off the Mocs (1-6) in the Southern Conference opener for both at Davidson, N.C.

NO. 24 MARQUETTE 69, IPFW 50

Lazar Hayward scored 19 points and Jerel McNeal had 16, including eight in a 12-5 run to open the second half for a 50-30 lead, as the host Golden Eagles (8-1) returned to the court for the first time in a week with a victory over the Mastadons (4-6) in Milwaukee.

MASSACHUSETTS 61, NO. 25 KANSAS 60

Ricky Harris scored 18 points and the Minutemen (3-6) saw their 14-point lead trimmed to 61-60 with 27 seconds left, before the Jayhawks (7-2) missed a scoop shot at the buzzer and saw their 30-game home winning streak end at Kansas City, Mo.

WAC

LOUISIANA TECH 77, CENTENARY 71

Jamel Guyton scored 22 points, Kyle Gibson added 20, and David Jackson chipped in 15 points and nine rebounds to lead the visiting Bulldogs (5-4) over the Gents (2-9) at Bossier City, La. Louisiana Tech outrebounded Centenary 43-24.

SAN FRANCISCO 79, BOISE STATE 76

Dior Lowhorn scored 20 points and Kwame Vaughn 18, including a layup and free throw for a 73-71 lead with just under a minute left, as the Dons (7-4) beat the Broncos (6-3) at Boise, Idaho. Mark Sanchez had 15 points to lead Boise State.

UTAH STATE 69, UTAH VALLEY STATE 50

Gary Wilkinson scored a game-high 29 points, Tai Wesley chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds, and the visiting Aggies (6-1) took a 34-18 halftime lead and never looked back in cruising past the Wolverines (5-4) at Orem, Utah. Ryan Toolson led Utah Valley with 25 points.