GAME NOTES: The 12th-seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs will kick off first- round action of the Southeastern Conference Tournament against the No. 13 seed Auburn Tigers Wednesday night at Bridgestone Arena.

The winner moves on to face No. 5 seed Texas A&M in the second round on Thursday afternoon. Mississippi State notched a 78-71 road victory when these teams met up in Auburn on Jan. 21. The Bulldogs nearly coughed up an 18-point, second-half lead in that one as Auburn cut the deficit to two in the final two minutes before Mississippi State eventually prevailed. Still, the Tigers lead the all-time series, 73-68.

Auburn enters the postseason in the midst of a six-game slide and in search of its first SEC Tournament win since 2009.

Mississippi State comes into the contest looking to build on its win over last-place Missouri in the regular-season finale, which snapped a five-game skid.

Leading the way for Auburn is senior guard K.T. Harrell, the SEC's top scorer (18.1 ppg) and 3-point shooter (88-of-203; .433) this season. Antoine Mason, the team's second-leading scorer (15.1 ppg), can also step outside and shoot the three (40-of-98; .408). Mason has rejoined the team after missing three games due to the death of his father. Prior to his leave of absence, Mason had scored 20-plus points in four of his previous seven games. Down low, the Tigers lean on Cinmeon Bowers, who averages 12.6 points and 9.7 rebounds and has posted 14 double-doubles this season.

Mississippi State does not have a single player ranked inside of the SEC's top 25 scorers. Craig Sword (11.0 ppg; 26th) leads the way along with forwards Gavin Ware (10.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and Roquez Johnson (9.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg). Coach Rick Ray would certainly welcome a repeat defensive performance of the Bulldogs' regular-season finale, when they held Missouri to a season-low 43 points and did not allow field goals on consecutive possessions for the entire contest. In fact, it was the first SEC foe that MSU held below 50 points since the 2007-08 season.

Both of these teams face long odds of staying alive into the weekend. The Bulldogs, while far from a finished product, managed to double their SEC win total from a year ago and have already beaten Auburn in a road environment this season.