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Jones powers Texas A&M to rout of Iowa State

Feb 1, 2007 - 6:13 AM COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Ticker) -- A combination of Joseph Jones and a stingy defense extended Iowa State's slump.

Jones scored 19 of his 21 points in the first half and the eighth-ranked Aggies held their 32nd straight opponent under 50 percent shooting in a 73-49 Big 12 Conference victory over the Cyclones, who tumbled to their fifth straight defeat.

Texas A&M (18-3, 6-1 Big 12) won for the 12th time in 13 games and extended its home winning streak to 20 games by holding a team under 50 points for the sixth time this season.

A junior center, the 6-9 Jones provided most of the offense, particularly in the opening half when he shot 7-of-11 to lead the Aggies to a 39-23 lead at the intermission.

"I tried to come out and be more aggressive. That is one thing my teammates have been telling me to do," Jones said. "I want to help my team out more. Coach said any chance you get when they are not guarding the high post, take the shot. Every game I am feeling better and I am starting to move a whole lot better."

Texas A&M improved to 15-0 at home this season and is 48-5 at Reed Arena in coach Billy Gillispie's three seasons.

"It was a really good win for us. I didn't think the margin would be that big either way," Gillispie said. "They are a good team, they execute well and they are hard to guard. They make you execute on defense and you have to make your shots. I was really happy with the way we executed for the most part."

Wesley Johnson scored 13 points in the opening 20 minutes, including three 3-pointers for Iowa State, which hasn't lost five in a row in conference play since the 2004-05 season.

"They played a get out and pressure defense, the same defense that Oklahoma State played, just a little tougher," Johnson said. "It was a typical Big 12 game, we just started the day out wrong. I have to take my hat off to them - they guarded well."

Acie Law IV and Antanas Kavaliauskas added 13 points apiece and Josh Carter had 10, including three 3-pointers, for Texas A&M, which opened 18-3 for the first time in school history.

The Aggies have a pair of showdowns coming up against conference co-leaders Kansas on Saturday and Texas on Monday.

This gave us a lot of confidence and hopefully it will carry into the Kansas game," Law said. "I don't know what the Kansas game will mean for the program, but for this season it could play a big part in us competing for a Big 12 championship. We are tied for first and whoever wins will be in first.

"It's still early in conference play, but this game could have a lot of impact on who will win the conference."

Johnson finished with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting for the Cyclones, who shot 32 percent (17-of-53) and connected on just 5-of-20 from the arc.