Auburn all but locked up an NCAA Tournament bid with a 79-70 win over No. 12 Tennessee on Saturday afternoon.

Wendell Green led the way with 24 points and four assists to power the Tigers to the important win that should secure a trip to March Madness for Bruce Pearl’s team. Auburn had come close to landing the big win it needed, including a 90-85 overtime loss to Alabama on Wednesday, before finally breaking through against the Volunteers in front of a lively crowd at Neville Arena.

Tennessee held a four-point lead headed into halftime, but the second half was a back-and-forth affair between the two SEC schools. Down a point with less than five minutes remaining, Jaylin Williams’ jumper with 4:25 left in the game gave the Tigers’ a 64-63 lead it would never relinquish. Over the next three minutes, Auburn built the lead to 72-64 behind Williams, Allen Flanigan and Green. Flanigan finished with 16 points while Johni Broome contributed 17 points and seven rebounds in the win.

Before the win over Tennessee, ESPN’s latest bracketology had Auburn on the bubble as one of the last four teams to get a bye and as an 11 seed. Now, Auburn should move off the bubble and should move up the seed line with its Quadrant 1 win over Tennessee.