Aggies Face MSU in Starkville Wednesday

Wednesday, January 6

Starkville, Miss.

7:30 PM

Texas A&M

Mississippi State

Jan 05, 2016 | Men's Basketball

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

COLLEGE STATION – After opening SEC play with a win over Arkansas, the Texas A&M men's basketball team hits the road this week to face Mississippi State on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. inside Humphrey Coliseum.

The matchup will be nationally televised on SEC Network with Dave Neal calling the play-by-play and Daymeon Fishback providing color commentary. Additionally, radio coverage will be provided on the Aggie Sports Network, which can be heard locally in the Bryan/College Station area on WTAW (1620 AM).

The Aggies (11-2; 1-0 SEC) enter the contest ranked No. 17 in the USA Today/Coaches poll while the Associated Press rankings slot the team at No. 21.

Led by senior Jalen Jones, Texas A&M opened its run through SEC play with a 92-69 victory over the Razorbacks Saturday at Reed Arena. Jones notched a personal-best 28 points in the contest, making 9-of-13 field goal attempts, including four from beyond the 3-point arc, and was rewarded for his effort by being named the SEC's Player of the Week on Monday.

Since rejoining the A&M lineup after missing the first four games of the season, Jones paces the Aggies in both scoring (16.3 points per game) and rebounding (6.4 rebounds per game) and has reached the 20-point plateau in four of nine games played this season.

Jones was not the lone standout during the win over Arkansas as he was joined by a balanced attack that featured four more players in double-digit scoring. Danuel House contributed 14 points, Alex Caruso scored 11 while Admon Gilder and Tonny Trocha-Morelos each notched 10 to give A&M its third game this season with five or more players finishing with 10 or more points.

It was a record-setting day for Caruso as he became Texas A&M's all-time steals king with a first period take-away. The College Station native now has 230 career steals and stands out as the active leader among all NCAA Division I players.

Mississippi State (7-5; 0-0 SEC) will be facing its first SEC competition of the season after the Bulldogs' last action came on Dec. 31 when MSU defeated North Carolina Central 71-48 in Starkville.

Led by first-year head coach Ben Howland, the Bulldogs have won three straight contests and are 45-37 all-time in SEC opening contests. Senior forward Gavin Ware spearheads the Bulldog attack and has reached double-digit points in each game this season to average 17.7 points per outing, a figure that ranks him fifth among all SEC players.

Additionally, highly regarded freshman Malik Newman stands out individually for MSU, averaging 13.3 points an outing, while upperclassmen guards Craig Sword and I.J. Ready contribute 12.1 and 10.6 points per game, respectively.

OPENING TIPS

• Wednesday will see the Aggies in Starkville, Miss., for a showdown with the Mississippi State Bulldogs inside Humphries Coliseum ... Texas A&M is 3-1 vs. MSU since joining the SEC for the 2012-13 campaign with a 1-1 mark in Starkville.
• Senior forward Jalen Jones was selected SEC Player of the Week on Monday after standout performances in Aggie wins over Cal Poly and Arkansas ... Highlighting his week was a career-high 28 point-performance during Saturday's SEC-opening victory over Arkansas when he converted 9-of-13 shots from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
• With a steal at the 16:44 mark of the first half against Razorbacks, Alex Caruso broke a tie with David Edwards (1991-94) to take over the program's top spot on the all-time career steal list. Additionally, Caruso ranks first among all active college basketball players with 230 career steals.
• In his last five games, Caruso is averaging 10.6 points per contest and has dished out 30 assists while committing just six turnovers (5.0 assist-to-turnover ratio).
• Fellow back court mate Anthony Collins tops the list of all active Division I players with 630 career assists split between his time at South Florida and Texas A&M ... Caruso, meanwhile, ranks eighth on the list and fifth in program history with 525 career assists.

SERIES HISTORY VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE (A&M LEADS 4-3)

• Wednesday will be the eighth all-time meeting between the Aggies & Bulldogs on the hardwood and the fifth as SEC competitors ... It will also mark Texas A&M's third visit to Starkville.
• During the most recent match-up between the two schools, the Aggies overcame a 28-27 halftime deficit to defeat the Bulldogs 74-70 in College Station ... Alex Caruso led the Aggies with 21 points.
• Two of the last four meetings in the series have gone into overtime with each team claiming a victory.
• Prior to the Aggies joining the SEC, Texas A&M last faced Mississippi State at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 17, 2011, during the 2K Sports Classic ... MSU earned a 69-60 victory ... Current Aggie associate head coach Rick Stansbury was the head coach of the Bulldogs during the contest.
• Aggie floor general Billy Kennedy is 3-7 against the Bulldogs, while MSU's Ben Howland is 2-0 against A&M with both wins coming while Howland was the head coach at UCLA (2004-13).

TEXAS A&M-MISSISSIPPI STATE CONNECTIONS

• A&M's Rick Stansbury - The A&M associate head coaches' ties to the Bulldog basketball program run deep ... Stansbury spent 22 seasons at MSU, including the last 14 as head coach (1999-2012), where he compiled a 293-166 (.638) record while guiding the Bulldogs to the postseason 11 times, including six NCAA appearances ... He stands out as the all-time coaching wins leader at Mississippi State and ninth-winningest coach in the history of the SEC.

UP NEXT

The Aggies' two-game road swing continues as Texas A&M will face Tennessee inside Thompson–Boling Arena in Nashville on Saturday. Tip-off is slated for Noon on SEC Network.

JONES NAMED SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK (JAN. 4)

Following standout performances in Aggie wins over Cal Poly and Arkansas, Texas A&M's Jalen Jones was named SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Jan. 4.

A 6-foot-7, 220-pound senior forward from Dallas, Jones averaged 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in wins over Cal Poly and Arkansas. Jones exploded for a career-high 28 points during the Aggies' SEC-opening victory over Arkansas, converting 9-of-13 shots from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, while grabbing seven rebounds and notching two steals.

Earlier in the week, Jones scored 11 points with six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal as the Aggies defeated Cal Poly at Reed Arena.

TROCHA-MORELOS DEVELOPING INTO A CONTRIBUTOR

After making his long awaited debut season on the court of the Aggie big man Tonny Trocha-Morelos struggled at times last season to feel comfortable on the court after waiting almost two seasons to hit the court. The Columbian averaged under two points in 10.2 minutes per contest a year ago, but this season is turning heads as one of the most improved players on the A&M roster.

Trocha-Morelos' numbers are significantly up across the board through 13 games of his sophomore campaign, including his first career double-double [10 points and 10 rebounds vs. Arkansas on Jan. 2].

KENTUCKY TOPS PRESEASON SEC MEDIA POLL; AGGIES THIRD

Kentucky was predicted to win the 2016 Southeastern Conference men's basketball championship in voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members.

The Wildcats are the overall preseason favorite for the 11th time since the 1998-99 season.

LSU freshman Ben Simmons was the choice of the media for SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year. Simmons becomes just the second freshman chosen as preseason player of the year by the media, joining Kentucky's Julius Randle in 2013-14. Florida's Dorrian Finney-Smith, Kentucky's Tyler Ulis, Texas A&M's Danuel House and Vanderbilt's Damian Jones also received votes in the Player of the Year voting.

House, Jones, Simmons and Ulis were each All-SEC First Team selections along with Kentucky's Skal Labissiere and Ole Miss's Stefan Moody.