Auburn 74, Mississippi State 68: K.C. Ross-Miller tied career highs with 21 points and seven rebounds as the 13th-seeded Tigers survived a see-saw affair in the first round of the SEC tournament.

KT Harrell had 19 points for Auburn (13-19), which plays No. 5 seed Texas A&M in Thursday's second round. Alex Thompson scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting - including 3-of-3 from long range - as the Tigers snapped a six-game slide and picked up their first win in the event since 2009.

Craig Sword finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Bulldogs (13-19), who were 1-of-12 from 3-point distance. I.J. Ready added 18 points but no other Mississippi State player had more than six.

Sword's 3-pointer less than eight minutes in put the Bulldogs up 18-11 but the Tigers responded with a 9-2 run and Harrell's 3 before the buzzer pulled Auburn within 36-34 at the break. Auburn put together an 8-0 burst early in the second to jump in front and built the lead up to 56-45 after Ross-Miller had a transition layup and a pair of free throws with less than 12 minutes left.

Three-point plays by Roquez Johnson and Sword and a jumper by Ready tied it at 59 with just over seven minutes left and the lead exchanged hands on several occasions down the stretch, the last time on Harrell's jumper with less than four minutes to go. Thompson had a 3-pointer moments later to give Auburn a 69-65 lead and Ross-Miller had a layup for a five-point lead with 38 seconds left before capping the scoring at the line.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Thompson, a sophomore, had a previous career high of eight points against Winthrop on Dec. 17. ... Tigers G TJ Lang left the game after hurting his right shoulder. ... Auburn was 0-2 against Texas A&M this season, including an 80-55 loss on Feb. 28.