GAME NOTES: The Texas A&M Aggies will try to stay unbeaten on their home floor when they welcome the Arizona State Sun Devils to Reed Arena on Saturday afternoon in a non-conference clash.

Since losing a pair of games in the CBE Classic to Maryland (78-73) and Alabama (76-71), ASU has righted the ship with back-to-back wins to pull to 5-2, most recently dismissing UNLV on Wednesday, 77-55. This is the Sun Devils' first true road game, and they went just 4-7 away from home during the 2013-14 campaign.

Texas A&M has gotten off to a strong 5-1 start to the season. It's only loss came in the opening round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off to Dayton (55-53), but it salvaged its stay with a fifth-place finish by defeating the College of Charleston (59-50) and New Mexico (64-51). The Aggies claimed their fourth straight win on Wednesday in last-second fashion over Sam Houston State, 66-63.

In four previous all-time meetings between the programs, ASU has come out victorious each time.

Considering the final score, you'd have never expected that the Sun Devils faced a 15-point deficit early in the first half of their contest with UNLV, but they quickly climbed back in the game with a furious 20-2 run and then held UNLV to a mere 24.2 percent field goal shooting the second half as they pulled away for the easy win. They shot a modest 43.5 percent from the floor themselves in the contests, but they connected on half their 3-point attempts (11-of-22). Eric Jacobsen tallied a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds to go with four assists and three blocks. Kodi Justice added 13 points and six assists, while Gerry Blakes contributed 11 points and nine boards.

ASU's latest performance was right in line with its season averages, as it shoots a lofty 48.1 percent from the field (including 42.3 percent from 3- point range) for 71.7 ppg while allowing just 59.0 ppg on 38.3 percent shooting. Bunched together as the leading scorers are Blakes (12.1 ppg), Jacobsen (11.3 ppg) and Jonathan Gilling (11.0 ppg). Jacobsen, who shoots 65 percent from the field, is an anchor in the paint with 8.3 rpg and 2.0 blocks per contest as well.

The Aggies had an unexpectedly difficult time at home against Sam Houston State earlier in the week and found themselves tied with the clock winding down before Danuel House drilled a 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds left bail them out for the three-point victory. The Aggies outshot SHSU from the field, 44.1 percent to 35.2 percent, but failed to pull away due to poor showing from 3- point range (3-of-12) and the foul line (11-of-22). Kourtney Roberson paced four teammates in double figures with 13 points while adding a team-high eight rebounds. Alex Caruso scored 12 on 6-of-7 from the field, while Jordan Green and Jalen Jones netted 10 apiece.

Texas A&M has excelled on both ends of the floor this season, as it shoots nearly 46 percent from the field for 73.0 ppg while boasting an excellent scoring defense as well (58.7 ppg). It also lives comfortably in the green in terms of its rebounding (+8.0) and turnover (+4.0) margins. House is the top scorer with 13.7 ppg, while Jones follows close behind with 12.3 ppg to go with 6.7 rpg. Caruso (8.5 ppg) dishes out 6.2 apg.

Texas A&M doesn't have the offensive firepower to run away from anyone, but its brand of lock-down defense is a good recipe for success on its home floor against an ASU squad without an elite scorer.