Tennessee faces a must-win game with regard to its NCAA tournament hopes when the Volunteers visit Auburn on Wednesday. The Vols have won three of their past 12 trips to Auburn Arena, but this is not a typical Auburn team. These Tigers have lost 13 of their past 14 games while dropping into a tie with Mississippi State and South Carolina in the basement of the Southeastern Conference.Auburn must try to contain Jordan McRae, the SEC's third-leading scorer (16) who's been on fire lately. In the past five games, McRae is averaging 26.8 points and shooting 53.5 percent from the field, making 21-of-33 3-pointers.TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSS.ABOUT TENNESSEE (17-11, 9-7 SEC): The latest projected NCAA brackets released by Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm have Tennessee as one of the final four squads in the 68-team field -- even after Saturday's 78-68 road loss to a Georgia team with a losing record. The Vols must get more out of sophomore post Jarnell Stokes, who attempted seven shots in 31 minutes against the Bulldogs after facing an array of double-teams. Stokes did grab 10 rebounds, his fourth straight double-digit board total.ABOUT AUBURN (9-20, 3-13): The Tigers have guaranteed their second 20-loss season in three years under coach Tony Barbee. Auburn has scored fewer than 60 points eight times during its current slide and allowed the opposition to score 80-plus on five occasions. Still, Barbee is optimistic. "Nobody hates losing more than me. I've aged 10 years this year because I haven't slept," Barbee told reporters. "I see the direction that it's going, and I'm excited about it."TIP-INS1. The Vols are three victories from reaching 20 wins for the first time in three seasons. Coach Cuonzo Martin, meanwhile, is three wins away from his 100th as a head coach. 2. Auburn is 229th in RPI, next-to-last among teams from the "Big 6" conferences. Only TCU is lower. 3. Tennessee senior Kenny Hall is coming off a 10-point performance against Georgia, his best output since Feb. 2 at Arkansas.PREDICTION: Tennessee 73, Auburn 62