Bulldogs welcome Aggies back to action
Texas A&M hasn't played a basketball game in 33 days. The Aggies have been on a pause due to COVID-19 issues. Wednesday night, they'll get welcomed back to action courtesy of Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs and Aggies are set to square off at Texas A&M's Reed Arena. It'll be the second meeting this year between the two schools after the Aggies topped the Bulldogs 56-55 in Starkville earlier this year.
But a lot has happened since then. While MSU has battled through its SEC slate, Texas A&M could only sit and watch over the last month and that has created a unique preparation for State head coach Ben Howland.
"They could have put in six or eight new sets that we’ve never seen before, that no one’s seen, because they haven’t played in a month," Howland said of Texas A&M on Tuesday. "In some ways, we’re preparing for a team that we haven’t seen play at all in a long time. It is what it is."
See below for more information on Wednesday's game including how you can follow along, as well as comments from Howland's pre-Texas A&M press conference. To watch Howland's full media session, see the video above.
- What: Mississippi State (13-12, 7-9) at Texas A&M (8-7, 2-6)
- Where: Reed Arena – College Station, Texas
- When: 7:30 p.m. central on Wednesday, March 3, 2021
- TV/Video: SEC Network, Online via ESPN.com/ESPN App
- Radio/Audio: Mississippi State Sports Radio Network (click here for full list of affiliates), online at Hailstate.com and the TuneIn radio app, and on XM Radio channel 191 and Ch. 962
Comments from Ben Howland's 2-26-21 media session:
Question: How do you prepare for an opponent that didn’t play a game in February?
Ben Howland: “I was sitting and thinking about it [Tuesday]. They [Texas A&M] could have put in six or eight new sets that we’ve never seen before, that no one’s seen because they haven’t played in a month. In some ways, we’re preparing for a team that we haven’t seen play at all in a long time. It is what it is. I’m sure they’ll be excited to be back after their players have been sitting there for basically a month without having a chance to play a game.”
Q: When this MSU offense gets into a rhythm, what sticks out to you as the main reason everything is moving so well?
BH: “When we’re in a rhythm, our best offense comes off of our defense when we get stops. One thing that really hurt us in the last game [against Alabama] was that we didn’t get enough transition baskets. I thought a lot of that was Alabama doing a great job [with their transition defense]. [We had] 44 shots, yet we only came up with six fastbreak points. Give them credit for really having their guys back in transition.”
“In the halfcourt offense, it’s hard. We’re playing basically two bigs at the same time, so we don’t have the spacing that you’d normally like to have on offense. That’s hurt us at times, but when we’re at our best, we’re getting the ball inside and playing inside-out.”
Q: Is there a sense of urgency from the team heading into the final stretch of the season?
BH: “We had a good practice yesterday. I think our guys are excited. We’ve won two of our last three, and we’re going to be on the road for the last two. It’s March now. It’s amazing that we’ve spent the last nine months, between COVID and everything we’ve had to deal and contend with to get to this point, we want to finish strong. We had a good spirited practice [Monday], so I felt good about that.”
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