Suddenly, the crowd that will pack Alabama’s Coleman Coliseum for tonight’s basketball game against Auburn has more reason to show up than the halftime presentation of the ODK Trophy, which goes to the Iron Bowl winner.

As a bonus, two of the hottest teams in the Southeastern Conference will collide at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Alabama (16-12, 6-8 SEC), which snapped a two-year, 18-game SEC road losing streak Saturday at Ole Miss, has won three straight league games for the first time since 2007.

Auburn (19-10, 8-6 SEC) has won six of its last seven games. The Tigers are trying to secure their first 20-win season since 2002-03. They have also won four of their last five games against the Crimson Tide, including an 85-71 victory in Auburn on Jan. 17 that wasn’t nearly that close.

“It was a tough game and they made some huge plays, some huge shots,” said Alabama senior Alonzo Gee, whose play has sparked the Tide’s late-season run. “They’ve got some great players over there.”

Gee will be front and center on Senior Night.

He and reserve guard Brandon Hollinger are the team’s only seniors.

Gee leads the team with 14.9 points per game. But it’s what he’s done down the stretch that has stood out. In the Tide’s six SEC wins, Gee and Senario Hillman have combined to average 37.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game while shooting 50.4 percent from the field
and 54.8 percent from three-point range.

“I think you start with Alonzo Gee,” interim coach Philip Pearson said when asked about the Tide’s offensive improvement. “He’s shot the ball so well, and a lot of that is him personally, I think he just feels like he is in a groove and scoring the ball very comfortably. I think it is a little bit contagious as it goes around, whether it’s Anthony Brock or Senario Hillman or Mikhail Torrance.”

Gee started this season 36th on the Crimson Tide’s career scoring list. He is currently 13th, with 1,567 points, eight points behind No. 12 Melvin Cheatum (1988-91).

“I think it was a great experience for me,” Gee said Monday, summing up his college career. “I think it was a great learning experience for me. I think I had a great time here, and I just think it went by too fast.”

“Gee plays a big part of the team,” reserve point guard Anthony Brock said. “It was a privilege playing with Gee. He’s one of a kind.”

But Pearson said one of the keys to this late surge is the contributions of players off the bench. It was the best way to keep this team together with the turmoil of Mark Gottfried’s forced resignation.

“Well, originally, we had 10 scholarship players and I just felt like in this particular situation that we would best benefit ourselves, our team morale and camaraderie by giving everyone a chance to play,” Pearson said. “I think we’ve been comfortable keeping about nine almost 10 guys in just about every game.”

It has helped on a couple fronts, the coach said.

“I think that guys, when they know they are going to have a chance to play in the game, I think their practices are better because they know there is something coming Tuesday night with how I play or how I perform in practice,” Pearson said.

He also said the Tide has been able to keep its starters fresh with the deeper rotation. Gee said he has benefited from the rest.

“It’s been pretty huge for us, just to keep us fresh, keep us going,” Gee said. “I think it’s good to play everybody on the team … to keep everybody going, confident. You never know what’ll happen to you in the season, when you might need somebody to step up and play.”

Saturday at Ole Miss, it was Brock, who came off the bench to score a career-high 17 points in 20 minutes on 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range.

Against Arkansas, Yamene Coleman stepped up when JaMychal Green was sidelined with foul trouble. Andrew Steele contributed while Gee and Hillman also got into foul trouble in the first half at Ole Miss.

“Our guys, I couldn’t have asked anymore out of them the past couple of weeks with their effort and mental and physical preparation,” Pearson said. “Auburn is coming in here, we know they’re hot, they’re playing awfully well, but we’re looking forward to what’s hopefully going to be a great environment for us.”