AUBURN | No. 17 Auburn is hoping to start another March run Wednesday night.

A year ago, coming off an 80-53 loss at Kentucky, the Tigers reeled of 12 consecutive wins all the way to the Final Four including a perfect 11-0 mark in March.

Saturday, Auburn lost 73-66 at Kentucky and enters March fighting for a top four spot in the SEC and a double-bye in the upcoming SEC Tournament.

“We play best when we have lots of people contributing,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “We had 10 people score at Kentucky. That was good. We had nine people rebound at Kentucky. That was good.

“So, I mean, we're close, if you're asking where we are. Can we put it all together? That's why we got these last few weeks to see.”

For Pearl, the biggest improvement Auburn can make is shooting. The Tigers are 13th in the SEC shooting .299 from 3-point range and 13th shooting .670 from the free throw line.

Auburn’s opponent Wednesday, Texas A&M, also struggles with its shooting, ranking 14th in the conference in 3-point percentage and 12th in free throw percentage.

“The second half against Tennessee, the Ole Miss game and then the Kentucky game, I thought we defended pretty well, and if we can continue to defend—now, against Texas A&M we’re going to have to, because they’re going to defend and it’s going to be a lower-scoring game,” Pearl said.

“But if we can continue to do that, which is what we’ve done and then just shoot it better, whether it be from 3 or from free or from 2, anywhere, then that would help. I think that would be one of the things that could ignite us a little bit.”

Wednesday night’s matchup against the Aggies will be the final home game of the season. AU and then closes out the regular season at Tennessee Saturday.

A win in either game will clinch a top four spot in the league and could spur AU on another March run.

“Everybody knows, in the postseason, we have to step our game up,” Austin Wiley said. “And I feel like everybody on the team has another level we can reach. It’s going to be exciting to see if everybody can reach it and get to it. Just got to stay tuned.”

Tip-off at Auburn Arena is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.