GAME NOTES: The 18th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies have made the trip to Ames for tonight's Big 12 clash with the Iowa State Cyclones. Texas A&M is a stellar 18-4 overall, but three of the four losses have come against conference opponents. Fortunately, the team has rebounded well from a brief slump by winning its last three outings, including a 60-52 decision over Oklahoma on Saturday. Prior to that triumph, the Aggies had knocked off Texas by 17 points, and they are now 4-3 in league play. They have only played four true road games this season, and only one of those ended in victory. As for Iowa State, it is 13-9 overall and 3-4 in conference action thus far. The Cyclones took on Nebraska on the road Saturday, and the result of that clash was a 64-56 setback. Iowa State leads the all-time series with Texas A&M by a 7-5 margin, but the Aggies have won the last three meetings.

Texas A&M connected on only 35.4 percent of its field goal attempts against Oklahoma on Saturday, but the Aggies played well in other aspects of the game to claim victory. For example, they only turned the ball over nine times and finished with a 23-8 edge in points from the foul line. A 35-28 rebounding advantage also helped the cause. Joseph Jones scored 18 points for A&M, which got 13 points from Bryan Davis and 10 points from Donald Sloan. Josh Carter was limited to six points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field, but he is still the team's leading scorer this season with 13.4 ppg. As for Jones, he checks in with 11.8 ppg. Strong defense has clearly been key to the 18-4 overall record, as the Aggies are limiting opponents to 61.4 ppg on 37.7 percent shooting from the field. A&M is also outrebounding opponents by 9.2 rpg.

Iowa State has a number of solid players on the roster, but the team lacks the type of offensive performer capable of dominating a game. Wesley Johnson is the leading scorer for the Cyclones with 13.9 ppg, and Craig Brackins checks in with 12.4 ppg. The third and final double-digit scorer for the squad is Jiri Hubalek with 12.0 ppg, and he is pulling down 7.2 rpg as well. In the loss to Nebraska last time out, Hubalek scored a game-high 18 points to go with seven rebounds, while Brackins pitched in 14 points and seven boards. The game was deadlocked at intermission, but the Cyclones connected on only 36.8 percent of their field goal attempts in the second half en route to the loss. They turned the ball over a costly 20 times in the clash. Johnson did not play in the game and is likely to miss this contest as well with a sprained ankle.

Expect Texas A&M to score a road victory this evening on the strength of its defense and rebounding ability. Carter will bounce back strong from a poor showing against Oklahoma in the most recent outing. Without Johnson in the lineup, the Cyclones lack the offensive firepower to get over on the Aggies.