ATLANTA — Now there can be no doubt.

Arkansas punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year by beating No. 18 Vanderbilt 81-75 Friday in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals before 18, 020 at the Georgia Dome.

The Razorbacks (21-10 ) might have been assured of being among 34 NCAA Tournament at-large teams before Friday’s game thanks to Florida and Ole Miss losing SEC Tournament first-round games Thursday night.

Beating Vanderbilt (26-7 ) on a neutral court, though, removed any question of whether the Razorbacks are NCAA Tournament-worthy.

But Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey and his players didn’t want to talk about the NCAA Tournament after beating Vanderbilt.

“We know if we win this [SEC Tournament ] championship we’ve got an automatic bid,” Razorbacks sophomore guard Patrick Beverley said. “That’s our focus right now.” Arkansas reached the 2007 SEC Tournament final — before losing to Florida — to gain an NCAA Tournament bid.

“Last year, we didn’t really think about [the NCAA Tournament ] and we made it to the championship game,” Razorbacks senior forward Charles Thomas said. “You have to play carefree when it comes tournament time.” Senior forward Darian Townes said the Razorbacks haven’t been paying attention to any NCAA Tournament talk.

“We’re just taking care of business,” Townes said. “One game at a time.” As a senior at Kentucky, Pelphrey played on a team that won the 1992 SEC Tournament title, and he wants that same experience for his players.

“You know I don’t have a crystal ball,” Pelphrey said when asked about clinching an NCAA Tournament bid. “I’d be doing my team a disservice if I focused on anything but preparing for the next game.” The Razorbacks play SEC regular-season champion and fourth-ranked Tennessee (29-3 ) at noon today.

Tennessee advanced to the SEC Tournament semifinals for the first time since 1991 by beating South Carolina 89-87 Friday.

Pelphrey said he hopes the Razorbacks can duplicate the toughness and confidence for today’s game that they showed against Vanderbilt.

Arkansas outrebounded the Commodores 45-23, including 22-6 on the offensive boards, en route to outscoring them 50-20 on points in the paint.

“We’ve had a tough time at times this year — especially on the road — being tough when we needed to be tough,” Pelphrey said. “[Friday ] I thought we were.” Five Razorbacks scored 10 or more points in a game for the first time this season, led by senior guard Gary Ervin and Townes, who each scored 18.

Thomas had 13 points, Beverley added 11 points and 7 rebounds to match Townes for the team high and sophomore guard Stefan Welsh had 11 points off the bench.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Pelphrey said. “I thought outside of fouling way too much in the first half [12 times ] we played pretty good basketball, and it was team basketball.” Senior guard Alex Gordon led the Commodores with 22 points, but senior forward Shan Foster — the SEC Player of the Year — was held to 14, guarded mostly by senior forward Sonny Weems.

Arkansas didn’t trail in the final 37 minutes, but Vanderbilt twice tied the score in the second half, including 58-58 on Gordon’s three-point basket with 9: 25 left.

Ervin scored on a drive — Arkansas’ sixth shot of the possession — and rattled in a three-point basket to give the Razorbacks a 63-58 lead with 7: 15 left.

Ervin, Beverley, Thomas and Weems then combined to hit 14 of 16 free throws in the final 2: 41 told hold off Vanderbilt.

Arkansas was 5 of 12 from the free-throw line before its late run and came into the game shooting 67. 3 percent.

“They seem to play with a confidence against us that you don’t see when they play some other teams,” Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings said. “So maybe the basket looks bigger to them when they play us.” Arkansas has beaten Vanderbilt five consecutive times and is 8-1 against the Commodores since 2002, including a 78-73 victory at Fayetteville earlier this season and victories at Nashville, Tenn., and at Atlanta in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals last year.

“They’re good when they play us,” Stallings said when asked about Arkansas’ prospects in the NCAA Tournament. “I think their NCAA Tournament chances, probably like anybody else, depends on who they draw.

“ But they’ve certainly got pieces and they’ve got talent, so I would imagine it’s all about the matchups.”