The Aggies (20-11, 9-9 SEC) started off strong, with Quenton Jackson scoring 12 of his team-high 18 points in the first half. A&M defense held Mississippi State (19-12, 8-10 SEC) to just 22 points in the first half as the Aggies went into the half with an 11 point lead.

After Jackson scored 4 more points to help A&M push its lead out to 41-24, the Bulldogs began double-teaming him to force other Aggies to hurt them on offense. Nobody did, and Mississippi State had cut A&M's lead, which briefly went as high as 19, back down to 9 as the Aggies went more than 5 minutes without a basket from the field.

Freshman guard Wade Taylor's 3 with 10:53 to go in the game broke the drought and put A&M back up by 12. A 3-point play by Hayden Hefner and another basket by Taylor helped A&M push the lead back to 13 with 9:32 left, but then the Aggies hit another dry spell. They went another 5 minutes with just one basket -- a 3 by Taylor -- and the Bulldogs chopped the lead to 56-50 with under 5 minutes left in the game.

With the Aggies in desperate need of points, forward Henry Coleman stepped up. He scored a layup off a pretty pass from Taylor to put A&M back up 8 with 4:28 remaining, then scored again to the Aggies a 60-54 edge with just under 3 minutes left.

Mississippi State pushed closer, cutting the lead to 61-58 with under 2 minutes to go. Tyrese Radford converted a key layup with 1:14 to go in the game, but the Bulldogs quickly responded at the other end.

With just 26 seconds remaining and the Aggies up 3, Coleman hit a pair of free throws to give the Aggies a 65-60 lead. Andre Gordon would add two more free throws after a quick Mississippi State score, then after a final Bulldogs bucket with 8 seconds left, A&M was able to run out the clock and eke out the win.

With their 20th win, the Aggies clinched the eighth seed in the SEC Tournament next week in Tampa. They will face off with the Florida Gators (19-12, 9-9 SEC), who the Aggies beat 66-65 at Reed Arena on Feb. 15.