Mississippi State 69, Texas A&M 60

[recap] [box score]

Rarely does a team win a college basketball game in the first eight minutes, but that's basically what Mississippi State did tonight.

In that time, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 24-9 lead, hitting their first five three-pointers. And Texas A&M's Ray Turner -- who had scored 20 points in each of the Aggies' first two games -- picked up two quick fouls. A&M was already without its best player, Khris Middleton, who will be on the shelf for a few weeks after he tore his meniscus in the season-opening win over Liberty. With Middleton in street clothes and Turner riding the pine because of the foul trouble, Texas A&M had nowhere to turn for offense, and having dug themselves into such a deep hole, they really couldn't get out.