ATLANTA — Vanderbilt has wrapped up an NCAA Tournament bid, but the Commodores won’t lack incentive for today’s SEC Tournament quarterfinal game against Arkansas.

The Razorbacks (20-10 ), who might need to beat the No. 18 Commodores (26-6 ) to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament, have won seven of the teams’ past eight meetings, including four in a row.

“That gives us a lot of motivation,” Vanderbilt senior guard Shan Foster said Thursday after the Commodores advanced by beating Auburn 93-82 in the Georgia Dome. “We haven’t played our best basketball against Arkansas, and any time you don’t play your best in the SEC, you’re going to get beat.” Vanderbilt is 48-18 the past two seasons, but 0-3 against the Razorbacks, including losses in Nashville, Tenn., and Atlanta last year and in Fayetteville, 78-73, earlier this season.

Arkansas is the only SEC team Vanderbilt hasn’t beaten the past two years.

“The venue hasn’t made much difference. They’ve pretty much had their way with us,” Commodores Coach Kevin Stallings said. “We just have to play a little better.

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“ They seem to play well against us and we seem to struggle with them. We’ll see what happens [today ].” Foster, the SEC Player of the Year, said it’s not easy to explain Arkansas’ recent domination in the series.

“It is what it is. It just is,” Foster said. “We’ve struggled to beat them, but now we’ve got another opportunity to correct that.

“ We know they’re going to be amped up and ready to play, and we will be, too.” Vanderbilt 6-11 freshman center A. J. Ogilvy and Foster scored a combined 53 points and hit 21 of 27 field-goal attempts against undermanned and undersized Auburn.

Ogilvy hit 13 of 14 shots — all his baskets were layups and dunks except for one jumper — and scored a season-high 27 points. Foster scored 26 points, including 6 of 9 three-pointers.

“They’ve got a great insideoutside punch with Foster and Ogilvy,” said Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey, who watched the game from press row after the Razorbacks practiced at Morehouse College. “They’re a smart team and well-coached and did a great job of moving the ball and getting it [to Foster and Ogilvy ] for good shots.” The Commodores shot a season-high 67. 3 percent, including 76 percent in the first half (19 of 25 ).

“I thought our team did a great job of being patient and getting the ball inside,” Stallings said. “Our guys really bought into the game plan and executed it very well.” Auburn 6-8 senior Quan Prowell, the team’s lone healthy big man, played just 11 minutes Thursday before fouling out and the Tigers struggled to stop Ogilvy without him, though 6-4 guard Frank Tolbert blocked his dunk attempt.

“When Quan goes out, our whole front line is gone,” Auburn Coach Jeff Lebo said. “It was hard for our kids against Ogilvy in there. He’s got savvy, he’s got great hands and his body is so big.

“ It kind of reminds me of playing in the back yard against my 6-year-old son. I can score on him whenever I want.” Arkansas, which has five players 6-8 or taller, will present a strong inside challenge for Ogilvy and the Commodores.

“Obviously, Arkansas is going to be a bit of a different game,” Ogilvy said. “It’s going to be a lot more physical.” Stallings said the Hogs were “a really horrible matchup” for Vanderbilt last season, before the arrival of Ogilvy from Australia.

“Last year, we were out there playing with four guards and a power forward,” Foster said. “This year we have a bigger team and feel like we are a better matchup with Arkansas.” Foster scored 22 points and Ogilvy 20 against Arkansas in the teams’ earlier meeting this season.

“We had a chance to win the game over in Fayetteville,” Stallings said. “They just made a couple more plays at the end than we did.” Razorbacks senior forward Sonny Weems hit 6 of 6 free throws in the final 20 seconds to help Arkansas hang on for the victory, including two free throws after Vanderbilt was assessed a technical foul trailing 74-73 with 7. 3 seconds left.

Vanderbilt was out of timeouts, but Neltner, a senior forward, called one as Arkansas was set to inbound the ball.

“Obviously, Vanderbilt is an NCAA Tournament team and they’ve had a fantastic year,” Pelphrey said. “We were very fortunate to win the game the last time we played them. We’ll have our hands full.

“ Hopefully, we’ll play well. We’ll need to do that to win.” AUBURN (14-16 ) Hargrove 6-13 1-2 16, Prowell 3-3 0-0 8, Tolbert 4-13 8-10 17, Barrett 9-15 0-0 20, Robertson 4-5 1-3 11, Williams Jr. 0-0 0-0 0, Reed 2-11 2-2 8, Heramb 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-61 12-17 82. VANDERBILT (26-6 ) Foster 9-14 2-2 26, Neltner 2-5 6-7 10, Ogilvy 12-13 3-4 27, Beal 2-4 1-2 7, Gordon 5-8 3-4 14, Metcalfe 1-1 0-0 2, Bell 0-0 0-0 0, McClellan 0-0 0-0 0, Graham 0-1 2-2 2, Walker 1-1 1-2 3, Drake 0-1 0-0 0, Duffy 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 33-49 18-23 93. Halftime—Vanderbilt 47-36. 3-point Goals—Auburn 12-27 (Hargrove 3-5, Prowell 2-2, Robertson 2-2, Barrett 2-6, Reed 2-8, Tolbert 1-4 ), Vanderbilt 9-18 (Foster 6-9, Beal 2-4, Gordon 1-3, Graham 0-1, Neltner 0-1 ). Fouled Out—Prowell, Tolbert. Rebounds—Auburn 23 (Hargrove 8 ), Vanderbilt 27 (Walker 7 ). Assists—Auburn 16 (Reed 9 ), Vanderbilt 27 (Beal 7 ). Total Fouls—Auburn 21, Vanderbilt 13. Attendance—12, 659. SOUTH CAROLINA 77, LSU 73 ATLANTA — South Carolina broke open a tight game with a 19-5 run and Dave Odom’s retirement plans were put on hold as the Gamecocks beat LSU 77-73 in the opening game of the SEC Tournament on Thursday.

South Carolina hit six three-pointers after trailing 43-41 early in the second half.

Evaldas Baniulis, a sophomore from Lithuania who had scored 10 or more points in only three regular-season games, had 16 points for South Carolina (14-17 ). Mike Holmes also had 16 and Dominique Archie added 15. Anthony Randolph led LSU (13-18 ) with 22 points. Thornton added 17 and Johnson 13. SOUTH CAROLINA (14-17 ) Archie 7-12 0-0 15, Holmes 8-13 0-0 16, Baniulis 4-9 4-5 16, Downey 4-13 3-6 12, Fredrick 5-14 1-3 12, Raley-Ross 0-0 0-0 0, Gray 0-0 0-0 0, Day 2-4 0-2 6, Muldrow III 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-65 8-16 77. LSU (13-18 ) Randolph 9-15 4-6 22, Johnson 5-8 2-2 13, M. Thornton 6-14 2-2 17, Temple 0-3 0-0 0, Farrer 3-6 2-2 10, Spencer 0-1 0-0 0, Martin 4-7 1-2 11, Q. Thornton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-54 11-14 73. Halftime—South Carolina 37-34. 3-point Goals—South Carolina 9-27 (Baniulis 4-9, Day 2-4, Archie 1-4, Downey 1-5, Fredrick 1-5 ), LSU 8-24 (M. Thornton 3-10, Farrer 2-3, Martin 2-4, Johnson 1-3, Spencer 0-1, Randolph 0-1, Temple 0-2 ). Fouled Out—Archie, Temple. Rebounds—South Carolina 27 (Downey 7 ), LSU 42 (Johnson 14 ). Assists—South Carolina 20 (Downey 11 ), LSU 10 (Farrer 3 ). Total Fouls—South Carolina 14, LSU 19. ALABAMA 80, FLORIDA 69 ATLANTA — Mykal Riley’s three-point barrage ended Florida’s three-year run as SEC tournament champions, leaving the Gators ’ NCAA Tournament hopes in doubt.

The Crimson Tide (17-15 ) was dominant in the first half but had a 28-point lead shrink to 6 before recovering to beat Florida in a firstround game.

Riley tied the school record with eight threepointers and finished with 26 points. The senior guard from Pine Bluff snapped Florida’s momentum with back-to-back three-pointers after the Gators pulled to 57-51 with 9: 02 left.

Richard Hendrix added 22 points for Alabama, while Marreese Speights led Florida (21-11 ) with 15.

ALABAMA (17-15 )

Jemison 3-7 0-0 6, Hendrix 7-13 8-10 22, Riley 9-14 0-1 26 Pickett 1-2 6-11 8, Gee 4-5 5-8 13, Hollinger 0-1 0-0 0, Hillman 0-3 0-0 0, Coleman 1-2 3-8 5. Totals 25-47 22-38 80.

FLORIDA (21-11 )

Werner 2-10 0-0 6, Speights 5-6 5-6 15, Lucas 2-7 1-2 6 Hodge 3-9 1-2 7, Calathes 3-12 2-3 9, Mitchell 0-2 0-0 0 Allen 2-4 1-1 5, Tyus 3-9 2-2 8, Parsons 5-9 0-0 13. Totals 25-68 12-16 69.

Halftime—Alabama 46-23. 3-PointGoals—Alabama 8-14 (

Riley 8-12, Hillman 0-1, Hollinger 0-1 ), Florida 7-26 (Parsons 3-5 Werner 2-8, Lucas 1-2, Calathes 1-5, Allen 0-2, Hodge 0-4 ).

FouledOut—Parsons. Rebounds—Alabama 45 (Jemison 9 ),

Florida 29 (Tyus 9 ). Assists—Alabama 18 (Pickett 6 ), Florida 14 (Calathes 4 ). Total Fouls—Alabama 19, Florida 25.