GAME NOTES: As one of five teams tied for second place in the SEC standings, the Texas A&M Aggies try to separate themselves from the pack on Tuesday as they do battle with the Auburn Tigers.

The Aggies have won four of their first six league outings and that has the program locked up with Arkansas, LSU, Georgia and Tennessee, with all five programs trying to chase down undefeated and top-ranked Kentucky. The team has won four straight since losing to the Wildcats in double-overtime back on Jan. 10, the most recent of those conquests being a 67-61 decision against Tennessee on the road this past Saturday.

Just 2-4 in conference action, the Tigers are coming off a disappointing 57-55 loss to rival Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night at Coleman Coliseum. The defeat was the second straight and the third in the last four outings for the program. A solid 9-2 at home, the Tigers have come up empty in all six true road games this season.

Texas A&M leads the all-time series with the Tigers by a count of 5-3, although Auburn won the most recent meeting last season by a score of 69-64 at Reed Arena.

The Aggies beat up on Tennessee in the paint a few days back, outscoring the Volunteers by a 30-10 margin, en route to 48.1 percent accuracy from the floor overall for the visitors in victory. Jalen Jones came up a rebound shy of a double-double as he tallied a game-high 18 points for A&M, followed by Danuel House and Alex Caruso with 15 and 13 points, respectively, the former handing out six assists in an effort to offset his 1-of-7 shooting behind the 3-point line and 4-of-12 from the floor overall.

Winners of four straight SEC games for the first time since joining the league for the 2012-13 campaign, the Aggies are seeking their first five-game conference win streak since February of 2011 when they were still members of the Big 12. Jones leads the program in scoring with 14.2 ppg and is also first with 6.4 rpg, although he has missed a couple of outings. House puts up another 13.8 ppg but is shooting only 39.3 percent from the floor.

Auburn led by as many as nine points in the second half on Saturday night, but in a game that featured six ties and seven lead changes, the visitors were on the wrong side when the final buzzer sounded. KT Harrell led the offense for the Tigers with a game-high 22 points, followed by Cinmeon Bowers and Antoine Mason with 14 and 13 points, respectively, which means the rest of the squad accounted for only six combined points.

Harrell, the leading scorer for the Tigers in each of the last three games, sits atop the list overall with 17.4 ppg thanks to an impressive 43.6 percent shooting on the perimeter. Mason accounts for 13.9 ppg and Bowers a double- double with 13.5 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. Unfortunately, as well as Bowers might play while the clock is running, he can be seen as a liability with his abysmal 48.0 percent shooting at the free-throw line. Because of him, the team as a whole is making just 64.4 percent at the stripe.

Being back at home where they feel the most comfortable, the Tigers should hold an edge in this meeting, but if A&M plays smart and puts Bowers in a bad position at the free-throw line, the Aggies might be able to escape with the victory.