Spring Break
Men thrash Cyclones, 87-69
By: David Arno
Issue date: 2/27/09 Section: Sports
The Texas A&M men's basketball team kept their NCAA Tournament hopes alive, and their four game winning streak, with a victory over Iowa State 87-69 on Saturday afternoon at Reed Arena.
With this win, the Aggies (21-8, 7-7) moved back to the .500 mark in conference play for the first time since mid January.
This is the Cyclones (14-15, 3-11) 15th consecutive Big 12 road loss and is their fourth loss in the last five games.
The first half began with both teams trading shots with neither able to gain any significant advantage. After a free throw by Iowa State sophomore Craig Brackins tied the game at 35 with 2:46 left in the half, the A&M offense went on a 9-2 run to build a 44-37 lead that they took into the locker room.
Carrying the team for the Cyclones, the Aggies were unable to find an answer for Brackins during the first half, nearly equaling his season average with 18 points.
The run that the Aggies started at the end of the first half carried over to the second half as A&M built up a 27 point lead by the 8:43 mark behind the sharpshooting of senior small forward Josh Carter who was 7-10 from beyond the arc for the afternoon. At that point, the Aggies put it in cruise control and sealed the rout for their seventh conference win.
"The game was easily summed up in the end of the first half and the start of the second half," said Iowa State head coach Greg McDermott. "They were able to carry the momentum that they had at halftime right into the second half, and that really turned out to be the difference in the game in my opinion."
After having a monster first half, Brackins was held to two points during the second half and finished the game with 20 on 9-20 shooting. Helping out was sophomore Lucca Staiger with 10 points.
Leading the way for A&M, Carter finished the game with a season-high 29 points on 9-12 shooting. Junior Chinemelu Elonu added 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.
With this win, the Aggies (21-8, 7-7) moved back to the .500 mark in conference play for the first time since mid January.
This is the Cyclones (14-15, 3-11) 15th consecutive Big 12 road loss and is their fourth loss in the last five games.
The first half began with both teams trading shots with neither able to gain any significant advantage. After a free throw by Iowa State sophomore Craig Brackins tied the game at 35 with 2:46 left in the half, the A&M offense went on a 9-2 run to build a 44-37 lead that they took into the locker room.
Carrying the team for the Cyclones, the Aggies were unable to find an answer for Brackins during the first half, nearly equaling his season average with 18 points.
The run that the Aggies started at the end of the first half carried over to the second half as A&M built up a 27 point lead by the 8:43 mark behind the sharpshooting of senior small forward Josh Carter who was 7-10 from beyond the arc for the afternoon. At that point, the Aggies put it in cruise control and sealed the rout for their seventh conference win.
"The game was easily summed up in the end of the first half and the start of the second half," said Iowa State head coach Greg McDermott. "They were able to carry the momentum that they had at halftime right into the second half, and that really turned out to be the difference in the game in my opinion."
After having a monster first half, Brackins was held to two points during the second half and finished the game with 20 on 9-20 shooting. Helping out was sophomore Lucca Staiger with 10 points.
Leading the way for A&M, Carter finished the game with a season-high 29 points on 9-12 shooting. Junior Chinemelu Elonu added 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.
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