Bulldogs face mystery with Aggies’ return to the court

March Madness means something totally different for the Texas A&M Aggies.

After not being able to play at all during the entire month of February because of coronavirus (COVID-19) protocols, March means the return to the court for Texas A&M.

The first opponent for the Aggies coming out of quarantine today will be the Mississippi

State Bulldogs at home for senior night.

Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams said his players “are excited” about having the opportunity to play again.

“Our guys handled this with incredible maturity,” Williams said. “We haven’t had them all together since February 1. Can we play as hard as we possibly can, together and for one another?”

There will definitely be an element of mystery surrounding the Aggies.

MSU head coach Ben Howland knows that Texas A&M has certainly had plenty of time to get ready to face his team once again.

“I was sitting and thinking about it (Tuesday),” Howland said. “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.”

One of the two Southeastern Conference wins for the Aggies (8-7, 2-6) came against the Bulldogs 56-55 in Starkville earlier this year.

It has been an up and down season for MSU (1312, 7-9), but has played better basketball as of late.

After getting two-straight wins over Ole Miss 66-56 and South Carolina 69-48, the Bulldogs competed well before losing to SEC regular season champion Alabama 64-59.

D.J. Stewart Jr. leads State in scoring with 16.5 points per game, while Iverson Molinar stands a close second at 16.3 points per outing. Tolu Smith averages 12.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per contest.

There is usually one indicator for Howland during a game to tell him if the Bulldogs are playing well offensively or not.

“When we’re in a rhythm, our best offense comes off of our defense when we get stops,” Howland said. “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 fast-break points. Give them credit for really having their guys back in transition.”

Tonight’s game between MSU and Texas A&M in College Station will tip at 7:30 p.m.