NASHVILLE — Tennessee is heading back to the SEC Tournament Championship Game.

Nearly 50 days after the first titanic clash between the Vols and the league's regular season champion Auburn that came down to the final seconds, Tennessee returned the favor in a dramatic tug-of-war that looked like an emphatic closing statement and then a dramatic stave-off in the tournament semifinals.

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The Vols won this round, 70-65 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Saturday afternoon to punch their ticket to the tournament's grand finale on Sunday for the first time since 2022.

In a flip of the script from the slugfest the two teams played in more than two months ago, this one had more prolific shooting, with both teams rattling off runs until it seemed that 4-seed Tennessee (27-6) had put the nail in the Tigers' (28-5) coffin late.

But Auburn had one more run left in it, erasing an 11-point deficit to pull within two 4:10 to go. The Vols' defense held, though.

Zakai Zeigler was stellar, pacing Tennessee with 20 points while Chaz Lanier scored 12 and hit a critical 3-pointer during the Vols' run to go in front for good.

Jordan Gainey provided 15 off of the bench.

Johni Broome led Auburn with 23 points. Miles Kelly scored 13.

Maybe there is something about Chaz Lanier playing back home in Nashville.

The senior guard, who set the tone in Tennessee's quarterfinal win over Texas on Friday, picked up where he left off less than 24 hours later, capping the Vols' opening possession with a 3-pointer and beating the shot clock for a jumper to go in front.

In a complete reversal of when these two teams first played in January, those first six minutes were a shootout. Lanier and Igor Milicic Jr. scored on back-to-back possessions, but Johni Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara answered to kept Auburn within one before the first media timeout.

Zakai Zeigler, scoreless in the first half against the Longhorns before scoring 19 in the second half, joined Lanier in his strong start out of the first break. He drew a foul on a three-point attempt, made all three free throws, then banked in a shot as he was falling down to extend Tennessee's lead to, 20-17 with less than 11 minutes to go in the first half.

And as for that prolific start on both ends, the Vols' defense was suffocating Auburn through a three-minute scoring drought that allowed Tennessee to pull ahead, 22-17 after another Lanier score.

Broome ended that scoreless stretch, but Zeigler followed it with four-straight points, including another drive and layup over Broome to lead 26-19.

Then the Vols' had their own shooting woes. Tennessee went nearly four minutes without a score, allowing the Tigers to rattle off a 6-0 run that trimmed their deficit to one at 26-25 after another Broome jumper with inside of five minutes left in the half.

Auburn extended that run to 10-0 after Broome put it ahead, and Dylan Cardwell scored a transition dunk off of the Vols' fourth turnover in nearly six minutes.

Darlinstone Dubar ended the drought, and Milicic scored on put-back that gave Tennessee the lead again, 30-29 with the clock ticking inside of a minute before halftime.

Zeigler opened the scoring 51 seconds into the second half, but the Vols didn't score again for two minutes and the Tigers went on a 6-0 run to take a 41-36 lead before Jordan Gainey hit a pair of free throws.

Jahmai Mashack, after disrupting an Auburn passing lane and taking the ball back the other way, drew a foul on his way for a shot and made both free throws to pull Tennessee within one at 41-40.

Broome put the Tigers up on the next possession, but Gainey, playing in place of Zeigler who went out of the game just minutes into the half with his third foul, laced a 3-pointer to draw even at 43-43.

The Vols had withstood Auburn's punch, but the blows came coming from both teams. So did the fouls.

Tennessee had made just three field goals by the 12-minute mark, but were making the most of its free throw line trips. Then the Vols started to throw punches.

Darlinstone Dubar, coming off of the bench, opened the way for a 9-0 run that included Lanier 3-pointer after he blocked Denver Jones' shot to swell Tennessee's lead to 55-48 with 8:17 remaining.

The dagger, it felt like at the time, was when Zeigler uncorked a shot from the top of the arc and buried it to give the Vols an 11-point lead, 60-49 with 6:59 left and opportunities for Auburn running out.

But the Tigers clapped back with 8-0 run as Tennessee suddenly couldn't score for two and a half minutes. Miles Kelly stepped back and hit a three to pull Auburn within four at 64-60. The Vols followed it up with a turnover.

Broome scored over Felix Okpara to make it a one possession game with less than four minutes on the clock.

Tennessee finally made a stop when two Broome attempts under the basket didn't fall. Okpara grabbed the rebound and the Vols went down and ended their scoring drought with a Cade Phillips put-back to lead 66-62.

Auburn still had a chance, though. It forced a five-second call on the inbound and forced jump ball to get possession back with 25 seconds left. Neither shot fell, and Tennessee's defense came up with its biggest stop of the day.

Tennessee will rematch with either Florida or Alabama in the championship game.

The 2-seed Gators and 3-seed Crimson Tide tip-off after the Vols' game to determine the match up.

Tennessee was 2-1 against both teams during the regular season, splitting games with Florida in Gainesville and Knoxville and beating Alabama on Jahamai Mashack's buzzer-beating 3-pointer a few weeks ago.

The game is slated for a 1 p.m. ET tip-off on ESPN.

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