Tennessee @ Auburn preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 2, 2018 ) Auburn 94, Tennessee 84

Tennessee must beat one more likely NCAA Tournament foe in order to become a repeat SEC regular-season champion, but for the second straight year, it is quite likely that distinction will not lead to ownership of the No. 1 overall seed in the conference tournament. The fourth-ranked Volunteers eye a fourth straight victory to end the regular season Saturday when they travel to Auburn in the only matchup this season between last year's co-conference champions.

Despite flashing the form recently that enabled it to go on a school-record 19-game winning streak from Nov. 28 to Feb. 13, Tennessee's 3-1 mark four games into a five-game stretch against likely NCAA Tournament teams may not be good enough because the one defeat over that span - at LSU on Feb. 23 - serves as the first tiebreaker between the co-conference leaders. The Volunteers have knocked off Ole Miss, Kentucky and Mississippi State in succession since losing to LSU - most recently dispatching the Bulldogs 71-54 on Tuesday in their home finale. While Tennessee needs to beat Auburn and a highly-improbable loss by LSU to a visiting Vanderbilt team on Saturday (0-17 in conference play), Auburn must hope for a win against the Volunteers and an unlikely loss by South Carolina to a Georgia squad that has only two league victories in order to secure its own double-bye. Auburn gave itself a chance to do just that on Tuesday, however, prevailing 66-60 at Alabama for its third straight victory and fifth win in six outings.

TV: Noon ET, ESPN

ABOUT TENNESSEE (27-3, 15-2 SEC): The Volunteers limited the Bulldogs to a season-low 54 points and 33 percent shooting from the field, marking the eighth time they held an opponent to fewer than 60 points and the 16th time they held an opponent below 40 percent shooting, "I think our guys truly understand (defense is) what we built our program on. We got away from it and we needed to get back to it. I think they really realized that," coach Rick Barnes said. Junior Grant Williams (19.1 points, 7.6 rebounds), who posted his seventh double-double with 14 points and 10 boards in only 23 minutes Tuesday, also added a pair of blocks to move into sole possession of fourth place on the school's all-time list (148).

ABOUT AUBURN (21-9, 10-7): Sophomore Chuma Okeke (11.5 points, 6.8 rebounds) tallied 17 points and matched a career high with 14 boards while Jared Harper (15.2 points) finished with 16 points, including a pair of layups in the final 1:10 to put the game away. "Chuma Okeke was a huge difference in the game. Everything was kind of equal out there. We had Chuma and (Jared), and I thought those two were the best players on the floor tonight. That had a lot to do with our ability to win the game," coach Bruce Pearl told reporters. Bryce Brown (team-high 15.7 points) has scored nine points or fewer in three of his last four outings after reaching double figures in 14 of his previous 15.

TIP-INS

1. Tennessee, which passed last season's win total with Tuesday's victory, needs one more to tie the 2009-10 team for the second-most victories in a single season.

2. Auburn has made a program-record 330 3-pointers this season - the total is the most of any major-conference school and ranks seventh in the country overall.

3. Since Jan. 23, the Volunteers have yielded an average of 78 points in their six road contests (versus 58.9 in seven home games).

PREDICTION: Tennessee 84, Auburn 79