Cyclones Fall To The Aggies, 87-69

Saturday, February 28

College Station, TX

12:45 PM

Iowa State

14-15, 3-11

Texas A&M

21-8, 7-7

Iowa State

Texas A&M

02.28.2009 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: cyclones.com

COLLEGE STATION, Texas ? A huge 38-11 run by Texas A&M broke open a close game late in the first half, as the Aggies downed Iowa State, 87-69 Saturday afternoon in College Station, Texas. The Aggies scorched the nets for a 52.5 percentage, only the fifth time this season the Cyclones have allowed an opponent to shoot above 50 percent from the field.

ISU, which falls to 14-15 overall and 3-11 in Big 12 play, received 20 points from Craig Brackins. It was Brackins' 16th 20-point game of the season and his ninth in 14 league games.

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Final Stats

"The game is easily summed up by what happened at the end of the first half and the start of the second half," ISU head coach Greg McDermott said. "They (TAMU) ended the first half on a 9-2 run after we tied it at 35 and then they started the second half on a 10-2 run, so they were able to carry the momentum from halftime into the second half."

ISU started the game 7-of-8 from the field to stake an early 17-13 lead against the Aggies. TAMU came back to take a 24-21 lead with 9:18 left before intermission, thanks to an 11-4 run.

The Cyclones tied the game at 35-35 after Craig Brackins converted a conventional 3-point play, but the Aggies tallied nine-straight points to go up 44-35. Bryan Petersen hit a jumper at the buzzer to cut the deficit to seven points (44-37) at the break.

Brackins had 18 first half points for the Cyclones, the eighth time this season where Brackins recorded 18 or more points in a half.

The Aggie lead quickly grew to 15 points (54-39), as TAMU outscored ISU, 10-2 in the first 4 ? minutes of the second half. ISU made just 1-of-7 from the field to start the second period.

The lead ballooned to 23 points (67-44) with 10:46 left in the game after the Aggies hit treys on three-straight possessions. Dash Harris hit a pair and Josh Carter drained one in the decisive run.

Carter finished with 29 points to lead the Aggies, drilling 7-of-10 shots from beyond the arc. Staiger added 10 points for the Cyclones, making a pair of treys to give him 66 on the season. That total ranks eighth on ISU's single-season 3-pointers made list.

Brackins now has 576 points on the season to rank 18th on ISU's single-season scoring list.

ISU is back in action on Wednesday (March 4), traveling to Nebraska. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.