Tennessee basketball vs. Alabama: Our score prediction is in

Tennessee basketball can put itself in prime position to win an SEC regular-season title with a win at Alabama.

The No. 4 Vols (22-6, 12-3 SEC) face the No. 13 Crimson Tide (20-8, 13-2) on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) in a battle to take sole possession of first-place in the SEC before the final week of the regular season.

Here is what to know about the matchup:

Tennessee is getting a title-game feeling before the NCAA Tournament

Tennessee effectively is playing in an SEC title game Saturday as the winner will have pole position going into the final week of the regular season. That experience serves as a mini-postseason preview for the Vols as an experience, while still having the knowledge that games remain on the schedule.

"Because you are on the road, because you are playing a terrific basketball team, it puts you in a position —  if you are focused in the right way — to say this gives us a chance to prepare for a high-level NCAA (Tournament) basketball game," Vols assistant coach Gregg Polinsky said.

UT closes the regular season at South Carolina on March 6 and home against Kentucky on March 9.

Tennessee won a share of the SEC regular-season title in the 2017-18 season, coach Rick Barnes' third at UT.

Dalton Knecht is averaging more than 25 points per game in SEC play

Dalton Knecht's season-high 39 points against Auburn on Wednesday bumped his average in SEC play to 25.3 points per game. It was his 11th game in SEC play with at least 20 points, his eighth with at least 25 points, and his fifth with at least 30 points.

The senior is in line for major postseason honors and likely put himself well in front in the SEC player of the year race with his game against Auburn.

Alabama is the best offensive team in nearly a decade

Alabama's adjusted offensive efficiency rating is the highest for any team since Wisconsin in 2014-15, which reached the Final Four.

The Crimson Tide have an adjusted offensive efficiency mark of 128.2, a measurement of points scored per 100 possessions adjusted for the opponent. Wisconsin posted a 129 mark.

"What they have done is to be noted, to be respected," Polinsky said. "Offensively, this is an elite team — not just this year but maybe over the last 20 years of college basketball.” 

How Tennessee demolished Alabama in the first meeting

Tennessee notched one of its marquee wins this season when it dominated Alabama in a 91-71 win on Jan. 20 in Knoxville. UT held Alabama to a season-low in points and forced 22 turnovers, then a season-high.

Knecht scored 25 points in the win, while UT limited Alabama star Mark Sears' production until the final minutes when the score was out of hand for the Crimson Tide.

Score prediction

Alabama 86, Tennessee 81: Tennessee has a habit of starting slow on the road. This is not a game the Vols can afford that in as the Crimson Tide can light it up and is brutal to beat at Coleman Coliseum.