Texas A&M
Iowa State
Aggies Fall to Iowa State in Big 12 Tournament
Mar 13, 2003 | Men's Basketball
March 13, 2003
Jake Sullivan scored 12 of his 17 points in Iowa State's opening flurry and the Cyclones led throughout in a 97-70 win over Texas A&M in the Big 12 tournament Thursday.
Sullivan's third 3-pointer gave Iowa State (16-12) a 29-11 lead midway through the first half. The Cyclones scored the first five points, including the first of Sullivan's four 3-pointers, and never trailed.
Tim Barnes had 21 points to lead six players in double figures for Iowa State, which had lost in the first round of the Big 12 tournament in both years since winning the event in 2000 and going 32-5 overall. Barnes had five 3-pointers.
The Cyclones play fourth-ranked Kansas (24-6), the Big 12 regular season champ, in the first quarterfinal game Friday.
Texas A&M (14-14) has never won a game in the Big 12 tournament since the league was formed seven years ago. Overall, the Aggies have lost 10 straight postseason games since losing in the final of the 1994 Southwest Conference tournament.
Bernard King, the Big 12's career scoring leader (1,990 points), led Texas A&M with 20 points in what might have been his last game. The loss could be a big blow in the Aggies' bid for its first NIT berth since 1994; they haven't been to the NCAA tournament since 1987.
Marcus Jefferson had 19 points, Jared Homan 15, Jackson Vroman 13 and Adam Haluska 11 for the Cyclones. Vroman also had 11 rebounds.
Iowa State responded with 12 straight points after Antoine Wright's 3-pointer for the first Texas A&M basket. That included a 3-pointer and a three-point play for Sullivan.
After Jefferson came up with a loose ball and broke for a pull-up jumper, Iowa State led 31-11 with 9:43 left. The Cyclones then went scoreless for six minutes, but the drought didn't prove costly.
Tomas Ress had its only two baskets in Texas A&M's 11-0 run, including a jumper with 5:07 left that made it 31-22. But the Aggies didn't have another field goal before halftime, when they trailed 40-28.
The Aggies cut the gap to less than 10 only once after that, when King drove the baseline for a bank shot and made the free throw after being fouled by Jefferson for the first points of the second half.
Iowa State then scored eight straight in less than two minutes, going ahead 48-31 when Sullivan made a 3-pointer falling down and with King fronting him. The margin never got less than 15 points after that, and got as wide as 29.
Andy Slocum had 14 points and 11 rebounds, his third straight double-double for Texas A&M. Wright and Kevin Turner both had 11 points.
