GAME NOTES: Anxious to snap a 20-game road losing streak, the Mississippi State Bulldogs try to make it happen on Tuesday when they visit the Texas A&M Aggies in SEC action at Reed Arena.

The Bulldogs, who last won on the road two seasons ago at Georgia (72-61), beat up on some very weak competition in the opening weeks of 2014-15 as they began the campaign a perfect 5-0. However, since then the team has won a total of just four times and lost eight, the most recent setback being a 72-47 defeat at the hands of the Florida Gators over the weekend.

MSU, which has lost two straight and three of the last four, is trying to avoid a 0-3 start to the conference schedule for the first time since 2006 when the program opened with seven consecutive league defeats and finished 5-11.

As for the Aggies, they too find themselves dealing with a two-game slide at the moment. The worst part about the last outing for A&M was that the team took top-ranked and undefeated Kentucky to a pair of overtime sessions before falling in a 70-64 final at home on Saturday. If nothing else, the close call kept the Wildcats from being a unanimous number one in the rankings this week.

The teams have split the previous six meetings, three of which have been played on neutral floors. Splitting a pair of encounters last season, the most recent battle ended up a 72-52 victory for A&M at home.

The Bulldogs dug their own grave against Florida as they turned the ball over 10 times in the first half alone, leading to 19 points for the Gators as the hosts secured the comfortable win in Gainesville. Mississippi State ended up with 15 turnovers, compared to only seven for Florida. Roquez Johnson led the Bulldogs in scoring with 11 points, followed by I.J. Ready and Fred Thomas with 10 points apiece, the former handing out five assists without suffering a single turnover in 27 minutes of action.

On a team that is scoring just 59.6 ppg, there are three players putting up double figures entering the week for the Bulldogs, with Thomas and Johnson in a virtual tie with 10.3 ppg each. Thomas, who has converted a team-best 24 3- pointers, is shooting only 35.7 percent from the floor though, while Johnson connects on a far more confident 56.4 percent. Gavin Ware, who has missed two games and come off the bench in nine of his appearances, is close behind with 10.2 ppg, and is first on the glass with 6.2 rpg.

The defense for the Aggies was outstanding against Kentucky, limiting the top- ranked team in the country to only 28.1 percent accuracy from the floor through 50 minutes of play. However, A&M was almost as desperate from the field at only 33.3 percent and it made a mere 2-of-15 behind the 3-point line. It also didn't help the Aggies that they were a mere 16-of-30 at the free- throw line.

Danuel House led the way with 25 points and nine rebounds, Kourtney Roberson produced 11 points and eight rebounds before fouling out and Alex Robinson tacked on 10 points off the bench for the Aggies. Alex Caruso was responsible for seen points, 10 rebounds and a team-best three assists.

Texas A&M should be proud for the manner in which it stayed with Kentucky for so long, but from there the road might actually get slightly more difficult for the program when you consider leading scorer Jalen Jones (13.3 ppg) is bothered by an ankle injury. If Jones is unable to go the Aggies will turn to House (12.6 ppg) for more of a presence on offense again, even though he has converted just 38.9 percent of his field goal tries.

After coming so close to a major upset, the Aggies are bound to have a let down the next time out, and with Jones potentially missing the game on Tuesday night or not being at 100 percent, A&M is more than likely to sputter.