Auburn can't get "punked" again in its rematch against Tennessee

Another day, another chance for revenge. And the game plan for the Tigers vs. the Vols should be another straightforward one.

In case you missed the Observations from Auburn’s SEC Tournament win over Mississippi State on Wednesday, here they are:

SEC Tournament Observations: Auburn 79, Mississippi State 61

Now, here’s a preview of Auburn’s second round matchup against Tennessee:

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Auburn kept its outside chances at the NCAA Tournament alive Wednesday by avenging one of its worst losses of its late-season slide.

Now the Tigers will try to avenge the first loss of that slide.

“I mean, we have the same mindset that we had today: Just take it game by game,” point guard Tahaad Pettiford said Wednesday. “Just got to go back, watch the scout and just have that chip on your shoulder that we lost to them too in the regular season — in another game that we think that we definitely could have won.”

After beating Mississippi State by 18, Auburn will take on Tennessee in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday afternoon in Nashville.

When Auburn went to face Tennessee on a snowy Saturday in late January, it had won four straight games. But a wire-to-wire defeat at the hands of the Volunteers became the first five of five straight losses for the Tigers, who are now 3-8 since that meeting.

This Thursday matchup will be a sizable opportunity for Auburn to potentially get back into the NCAA Tournament field after a laundry list of fellow bubble teams got bounced from their respective conference tournaments on Wednesday.

T-Rank’s TeamCast tool currently gives Auburn a 24.3% chance of getting an NCAA Tournament bid. A win over Tennessee would push that number up to 68.2%.

So, once again, you could call this another do-or-die type of moment for the Tigers and the Big Dance. And it’s not hard to figure out where their focus will be in this rematch, especially after what happened in that 77-69 loss earlier this season.

“I mean, they punked us the first time,” Auburn head coach Steven Pearl said. “Offensive rebounds and duck-ins were the two areas they absolutely destroyed us. We fouled too much. They’re going to challenge your toughness, your manhood.

“You got to respond and answer the bell — because (Thursday’s) going to be a fight.”

The headline heading into this fight is the status of Tennessee freshman phenom Nate Ament, who is second on the Volunteers in scoring (17.4 PPG).