Vols basketball playing for SEC championship Saturday against Georgia

Tennessee basketball is tied for first place in the SEC with one game to play in the regular season.

UT (22-7, 12-5 SEC) moved a half-game back of first-place Auburn with a 76-54 win at Mississippi State on Tuesday, then got the necessary help from Arkansas in a 91-82 win against Auburn to leave the Vols and Tigers knotted atop the league.

More: Vols basketball clinches SEC Tournament double-bye in rout at Mississippi State

Tennessee closes the regular season against Georgia on Saturday (6 p.m. ET, SEC Network). The Vols will know if they are playing for a shared conference title or an outright one by the time their game tips off, as Auburn (24-6, 12-5) hosts South Carolina at 3:30 p.m. ET the same day (SEC Network).

A win Saturday would guarantee the Vols at least a share of the conference title.

"We started out the year, everyone knows that’s what the ultimate objective is," UT coach Rick Barnes said. "You go through it, it’s a long season. At one point in time, all we talked about was how well can we play. Can we learn to play basketball the way it needs to be played? You talk about championships. You can talk about them all you want.

"But you have to play every game like it matters and for the most part this team has done that. Every game? No. But for the most part, yes.”

If both teams win or both teams lose Saturday, they will share the conference championship. Auburn would be the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament if the teams finished tied because the Tigers beat the Vols 94-84 in Knoxville on Jan. 2.

If Tennessee wins and Auburn loses, the Vols would claim an outright conference title for the first time since 2007-08 and the top seed in the conference tournament.

If the Vols lose and Auburn wins, Tennessee would be the No. 2 seed and finish a game back in the title race.

“We are definitely playing for a championship," sophomore guard Lamonte Turner said. "That’s big. Coming into this game, we knew it was a must-win if we wanted even a chance at winning a regular-season championship. Yeah, it’s big for us.”