After their conference opening 92-69 thrashing of Arkansas on Saturday, the No. 21 Aggies will go on a road trip to Starkville for a Wednesday night showdown with the Mississippi State Bulldogs in just their second true road game of the season.
A&M (11-2, 1-0 SEC) rolls in on a bit of a steak, having won four straight coming into the contest. In their last outing, Jalen Jones posted a career high 28 points and was named the SEC Player of the Week for his performance against the Razorbacks. He currently leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per contest. Since missing the first four games due to suspension, Jones has led A&M in scoring and rebounds per game (6.4) and has dropped 20 points in four of his nine outings this year.
Danuel House and Tyler Davis are sure to be a big part of the equation as well. House averages 15.2 points per game and Davis averages 11.3 per contest. Alongside the explosive Jones, the trio is what makes the Aggie offensive engine run so smoothly.
As a team, A&M averages 80 points per game, third best in the SEC, and plays a stifling style of defense that allows just 64 points per game. However, in their only true road game of the season, A&M only managed to put up 54 in the loss at Arizona State on Dec 5.
Alex Caruso and Tonny Trocha-Morelos also had fantastic showings in the Arkansas win. Caruso achieved 10 points and two steals, which gave him the all-time Aggie record for steals in a career, while Torcha-Morelos added a double-double to the stat sheet with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Their stats might not be flashy, but they are a crucial element to the Aggie equation.
On the other side of the coin, this will be the first conference competition for Mississippi State (7-5), who comes in after a 78-41 dismantling of North Carolina Central on New Year’s Eve. It has been a slow start under new coach Ben Howland, but there is cause for excitement in the coming years down in Starkville.
Highly-touted freshman Malik Newman leads the team in scoring, pouring in 13.3 points per game, while the junior-senior tandem Craig Sword and IJ Ready pick up the slack behind him, averaging 12.1 and 10.6 points per outing respectively. Who A&M decides on to guard Newman will be a key matchup in this game.  
This will be the eighth meeting all-time between the two and their fifth meeting as conference foes. A&M is 3-1 against the Bulldogs since joining the SEC with the lone loss coming at Humphrey Coliseum. 
Game time is set for 7:30 pm from Starkville and the game will be nationally televised on the SEC Network.