AUBURN | Bruce Pearl has won a lot of games at Thompson-Boling Arena. He'd like to return to Auburn late Wednesday night with another big one.

Pearl will lead the 11th-ranked Tigers against No. 4 Tennessee in a key battle in the race for the SEC Championship.

Auburn enters the game tied for second in the league standings, one game behind co-leaders Tennessee and Alabama with four games left in the regular season.

"It's almost March and we're still playing for championships. There just aren't many teams in the country that can say that, particularly in a league this good," said Pearl, who coached UT from 2005-11 before taking over at AU in 2014.

"Every game now, home or on the road, is precious."

AU is just 9-49 against the Volunteers in Knoxville but did come away with a 85-63 win in 2020 and has won seven of the last nine games in the series.

This might be Rick Barnes' best UT team in his ninth season heading the program and 37th season overall. The Vols are 21-6 overall, 11-3 in the conference and 13-1 at home.

Senior Dalton Knecht, a Northern Colorado transfer, is second in the SEC averaging 20.2 points per game. He's also averaging 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists, and shooting .477 from the floor and .403 from the 3-point line.

"He's going to get his. You just don't want him to go off," said Pearl. "He can do it all, both ends of the floor. He presents a real matchup problem because he's one of the biggest guards our guards will face and one of the most skilled forwards our forwards will face."

Pearl, however, was quick to point out that the Vols aren't a one-man show. Forward Jonas Aidoo is averaging 12.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks while point guard Zakai Zeigler averages 10.9 points and 2.0 steals, and leads the SEC with 5.8 assists per game.

"They've got great guard play," said Pearl. "They're dangerous from three. They've got guys that can really protect the rim. They're one of the best defensive teams in the country. We went up there last year and it was a 46-43 rock fight.

"Our defense has been good. It'll have to at its very best. It'd be great if we could keep making shots. That's what it takes at the end of the year -- to get hot and win."

Pearl said Jaylin Williams, who hasn't played since injuring his knee against Kentucky Feb. 17, will travel with the team to Knoxville and be a game-time decision.

"While he was not available for Georgia, it's possible he could play (against Tennessee)," said Pearl. "He moved around a lot (on Monday) — more than we thought he would."

Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.