It has not been the smoothest start to the season for Texas A&M, but the Aggies will search to build on some much-needed momentum when they host Prairie View A&M on Friday night in non-conference play at College Station, Texas.

The Aggies (7-5) rallied from a 15-point, first-half deficit to post a 64-52 win over Northwestern State on Tuesday; now the task is to put together two strong halves against the Panthers (4-8) in their final tune-up before their Southeastern Conference opener at Florida on Wednesday.

Texas A&M was in danger of sustaining its third straight setback when it trailed 27-12 with 9:04 remaining in the first half. But the Aggies took their first lead with 18:11 left in the game and soundly outplayed Northwestern State by outscoring the Demons 36-19 in the second half.

“In some respects, we needed to win a game like that,” Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “We didn’t need to win a blowout. We needed to win in the ways that we have lost.

“The ways that we have lost have been: When you have to get a stop, we haven’t; when you have to get a rebound, we haven’t; when you have to make a lay-up, we haven’t.”

Henry Coleman III scored a season-best 24 points for his second 20-point effort of the season. Tyrece Radford also excelled for the Aggies with his first double-double of the season, scoring 21 points and matching his season high of 10 rebounds.

Wade Taylor IV leads Texas A&M with a 15.3 scoring average, followed by Radford (11.7) and Coleman (10.9).

Prairie View has lost six consecutive games and is 1-7 on the road. The Panthers were routed 94-63 by host New Mexico in their most recent game on Dec. 20.

The start of the season was much better as Prairie View won its first three games, including an impressive 70-59 victory over Washington State on Nov. 15.

“A big night for our program and a big accomplishment for our conference to be more than just competitive against the Pac-12,” Panthers coach Byron Smith said the following day.

Will Douglas leads Prairie View with a 15.0 scoring average. Jeremiah Gambrell averages 12.3 points and Hegel Augustin 10.1.

Texas A&M has won all 13 meetings vs. Prairie View, including 73-53 during the 2017-18 season in the most recent matchup.

–Field Level Media

Seth Lundy collected 15 points and 10 rebounds to lift host Penn State to a 60-46 victory over Delaware State on Thursday afternoon in University Park, Pa.

Lundy made just 5 of 15 attempts from the floor and 3 of 11 shots from 3-point range in his return from a one-game absence due to an ankle injury.

Andrew Funk drained four 3-pointers to account for all 12 points and Big Ten Player of the Week Jalen Pickett added 10 points for the Nittany Lions (10-3), who have won four in a row. Penn State also won four straight games to start the season.

Myles Dread scored six points off the bench to move within nine of 1,000 for his career.

O’Koye Parker scored 11 points off the bench and Brandon Stone added 10 for the Hornets (1-12), who have lost 11 in a row overall since posting a 104-67 victory over Immaculata on Nov. 10. Delaware State has lost all nine road contests this season.

The Hornets didn’t help themselves by shooting just 30.4 percent from the floor (17 of 56) and committing 16 turnovers.

Martaz Robinson made a jumper to trim Delaware State’s deficit to three points early in the second half before Penn State scored 12 of the next 14 points to secure a 44-31 lead.

Dread drilled a corner 3-pointer and Funk also converted from beyond the arc during that for sequence for the Nittany Lions.

Parker drained three 3-pointers in under a two-minute stretch to trim Penn State’s lead to 49-42 with 6:49 remaining in the second half. Lundy, however, answered with a layup and a 3-pointer for the Nittany Lions.

Pickett added a layup and a pair of free throws and Lundy sank an easy bucket to push Penn State’s advantage to 60-44 with 1:11 to play.

–Field Level Media

Vanderbilt will look to get above the break-even mark in its final non-conference game when it faces visiting Southeastern Louisiana on Friday night at Nashville, Tenn.

The Commodores (6-6), who had never lost to a Southwestern Athletic Conference foe until a 64-62 home defeat to Grambling State on Dec. 9, nearly lost a second in their most recent game.

With Vanderbilt clinging to a one-point lead, Jordan Wright hit a 3-pointer with 44 seconds remaining as the Commodores took control in a 70-62 win over Alabama A&M. Vandy’s Liam Robbins scored 14 points, while Wright and Ezra Manjon added 12 each.

Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse blamed his team’s inability to pull away on long-distance shooting woes. The Commodores are shooting 32.8 percent from 3-point range this season but were 23.5 percent from distance against Alabama A&M and 11.1 percent in the second half.

“We’re a 3-point-shooting team,” Stackhouse said. “If we make the shots we’re capable of, we probably blow this game open. But the fact that we didn’t, we had to grind and work the game more than we wanted to.”

Robbins has not been much of a threat from distance, but he does shoot a team-best 53.1 percent overall and played just 14 minutes against Alabama A&M despite having just one foul.

Robbins has scored in double figures in eight straight games and leads the team in rebounding (5.4 per game) and ranks seventh in the country in blocks (2.8).

Southeastern Louisiana (6-7) hopes to put together consecutive wins for the first time this season after an 80-62 victory over Southern on Dec. 21. The Lions won despite the absence of leading scorer Christian Agnew (12.1 points).

In his absence, guard Roger McFarlane had a game-high 20 points, including a 4-of-5 showing from 3-point range. Boogie Anderson added 15 points for the Lions, who had 20 assists to 14 turnovers.

“I thought we did a great job of sharing the ball tonight,” Southeastern Louisiana coach David Kiefer said. “Guys were making the extra pass and hunting the assist.”

This will be Southeastern Louisiana’s first game this season against a Power 5 squad. Three of the Lions’ wins have come against non-Division I opponents.

Southeastern Louisiana is allowing Division I opponents to hit 55 percent of their 2-point shots, which ranks 330th in the country, according to kenpom.com.

Robbins has connected on 62.3 percent of his 2-point attempts for Vanderbilt.

–Field Level Media

For most of the early season, the big issue for Michigan State was making sure the team had enough in the tank for the challenging 11 games to open the schedule.

Entering a home contest on Friday evening against Buffalo (6-6), it is now a matter of whether Michigan State has played enough games of late to be sharp.

Through Dec. 10, Michigan State had played 11 games and had made two trips to the West Coast. Since then, the Spartans have played one game, a 67-54 home win over Oakland on Dec. 21.

Michigan State (8-4) hopes the extra time to practice and heal nagging injuries will be a boon starting Friday in the last non-conference game before Big Ten play resumes.

On Wednesday, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo offered good news for his team on the injury front. Senior forward Malik Hall, who has been out because of a foot injury during a Nov. 18 win against Villanova, is expected to return to action.

In addition, sophomore guard Jaden Akins has healed during the break after being bothered by a foot injury.

“We’re a better basketball team with those guys,” Izzo said. “We’re going to be a better basketball team with them. Whether it’s enough, only time will tell.”

Four players are averaging double figures in scoring for the Spartans: Joey Hauser (14.1 points), Tyson Walker (13.9), A.J. Hoggard (12.7) and Hall (12.0).

Buffalo also had eight days off after a 129-62 win over SUNY Canton on Dec. 21.

“This is an athletic, driving team,” Izzo said of Buffalo. “They have one bad loss and that’s it. I’m concerned about that.”

Playing a basketball power on the road won’t be anything new for the Bulls, who have played at UConn and West Virginia already in their non-conference slate.

Buffalo enters averaging 79.8 points per game and is led in scoring by Curtis Jones (14.8 points) and Zid Powell (12.7).

–Field Level Media

Chase Audige had a game-high 24 points and reached the 1,000-point plateau for his career as Northwestern concluded nonconference play with a 63-58 win over visiting Brown on Thursday afternoon in Evanston, Ill.

Boo Buie added 15 points and four assists as the Wildcats (10-2) posted their fifth consecutive win. Buie moved into sole possession of fifth place on Northwestern’s career assists list with 345.

Kino Lilly Jr. had 17 points to lead Brown (7-6). Paxson Wojcik had 13 points thanks largely to four 3-pointers, and he added eight rebounds and four assists.

The Wildcats opened the second half on an 18-6 run, breaking open a game that had featured five ties and 14 lead changes.

Ty Berry’s 3-point play — a floater and subsequent free throw with 18:37 left in regulation — gave the hosts a 33-32 lead that they would never relinquish.

Berry was Northwestern’s third double-digit scorer with 12 points. Matthew Nicholson pulled down 11 rebounds.

The Bears shot just 34.8 percent in the second half and finished the game with 17 turnovers. Brown shot 42.2 percent overall.

During its winning run, Northwestern held Brown without a field goal for more than 6:27 in the midst. Audige scored nine straight points during a 10-1 run, reaching his career milestone on a stepback jumper at the 16:22 mark. He finished the game at 1,012 for a career that began with one season at William & Mary.

Aaron Cooley’s layup with 11:01 left broke Brown’s field goal drought and brought the Bears within eight. A late 5-0 run made it a 55-50 game, but Buie set up Nicholson for a dagger alley-oop dunk with 1:31 left.

Buie’s drive for a layup capped Northwestern’s 6-0 run to start the game. Brown was scoreless until a Lilly Jr. triple at 16:38, going 0 for 4 with two turnovers and two blocked shots to start.

The Bears quickly took an 8-6 lead as Lilly hit back-to-back 3s and set up an Nana Owusu-Anane layup. The edge grew to 17-13 after Wojcik and Perry Cowan hit from deep.

An Audige triple and five straight points led Northwestern’s 8-0 run to take a 21-17 lead, but the visitors struck back with a 7-2 response that led into the final first-half media timeout. Kalu Anya’s layup capped the run.

Nicholson and Buie put together back-to-back buckets, but Brown was 5 of 7 from the field to close the half and took a 31-30 lead on an Owusu-Anane dunk.

–Field Level Media

Clemson will look to win its first three games in Atlantic Coast Conference play for the first time in five years when the Tigers host North Carolina State on Friday.

Clemson (10-3, 2-0) recorded its second straight victory and sixth in the past seven contests with a 79-66 win over Georgia Tech on Dec. 21.

PJ Hall paved the way by collecting a season-high 25 points to go with 10 rebounds vs. the Yellow Jackets. Hall has at least 20 points in four of his past six games overall, and he hit that total exactly in Clemson’s 70-65 win over the Wolfpack last season.

Chase Hunter boasts team-best averages in points (14.8) and assists (4.8), while Hunter Tyson leads the team in rebounds (9.3) and steals (1.2).

The Tigers could receive a boost with the potential return of junior guard Alex Hemenway (plantar fasciitis), who started the team’s first 12 games before sitting out against Georgia Tech.

“Obviously being off of it is going to be good, but I think this is going to be one of these lingering injuries all year that’s going to be a little bit of a challenge for us,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said.

The Wolfpack (11-3, 1-2) will look to tie a season high by winning their fourth game in a row on Friday.

D.J. Burns Jr. scored a team-leading 18 and 17 points, respectively, to propel North Carolina State to its last two victories, against Vanderbilt and Louisville. Burns, however, said his team got the message in its most recent game following a spirited halftime talk by coach Kevin Keatts.

That spark turned a three-point lead at intermission into a 76-64 win over Louisville on Dec. 22.

“Coach came in at halftime, and he let us have it,” Burns said, per the Charlotte Observer. “When we come in lacking energy or not doing the things we’re supposed to, he’s going to call it out. He’s going to look you in the eyes and say, ‘Play better for me.’ That man always lays it out for us, and we wanted to give it back for him.”

Terquavion Smith owns team-leading averages in points (17.9) and assists (5.4), while Jack Clark contributes 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals.

–Field Level Media