Tobias Harris scored 25 points as visiting Tennessee kept its dreams of an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament alive with a 73-69 victory over South Carolina on Thursday.

Scotty Hopson added 24 points for the Volunteers (18-12, 8-7 SEC), who had dropped five of their previous seven games to fall to the wrong side of the tournament bubble.

Tennessee is in fifth place in the SEC East and sixth in the conference overall. It might take a win over No. 23 Kentucky in the regular-season finale on Sunday and a strong showing in the SEC Tournament to secure a spot in the field of 68.

The Volunteers jumped out strong on Thursday, shooting 62 percent (13 of 21) from the floor in the first half to take a 40-23 lead at the break.

The Gamecocks got back into it quickly after the half, opening with a 15-6 spurt to cut it to single digits, 46-38, with 13:25 left. South Carolina would draw as close as 58-54 with eight minutes left but Harris scored six points over the next six minutes to keep Tennessee clear.

Sam Muldrow collected 24 points and 12 rebounds in his final home game for the Gamecocks (14-14, 5-10).