Aggie men rally late but fall short in loss to Jayhawks

Texas A&M put on a charge equal to its preseason projection in the Big 12, but it wasn't enough against the other team predicted to win the conference title, the team that has lived up to its billing.

No. 4 Kansas set up a Big 12 showdown for first place with Missouri on Saturday by holding on for a 66-58 victory over A&M on Wednesday in front 6,868 at Reed Arena. Meanwhile, the Aggies (13-14, 4-11) dropped below .500 for the first time this season -- but not without a fight.

The Aggies trailed 47-26 with 13:25 left and 53-37 with about 7 minutes left. But A&M's Khris Middleton sank two free throws to end a personal run of six straight points and 11 of 15 to help A&M get within four with 2:08 left.

KU's Tyshawn Taylor momentarily slowed the Aggies with a three-point play, but Dash Harris, playing for the first time since A&M-KU last met on Jan. 23, sank a 3-pointer with 1:40 remaining to keep A&M within four.

Both teams failed to hit key free throws, and after Elijah Johnson's miss, a skirmish broke out while both teams scrambled for a loose ball. KU's Thomas Robinson drew a technical foul, and Elston Turner made both free throws to cut KU's lead to 62-58 with 40 seconds left.

A&M immediately fouled Johnson, who missed both free throws.

A&M called a timeout to set up a play, then Zach Kinsley pulled the trigger on a 3-pointer from the corner. The ball bounded long, and the Jayhawks' 7-footer Jeff Withey pulled down the rebound and made two free throws to give KU some breathing room.

"We ran a play, and Zach was open," Middleton said. "We got confidence Zach can knock down the shot. He's a great shooter. It just didn't go down that time."

Withey then secured the victory with a dunk after a miss by Turner.

"If you had told me we would win by eight before we got here I would have been ecstatic, but we were up 21," Kansas head coach Bill Self said. "It's a win, and I'm happy we won but not happy or feeling great about anything."

Johnson dominated the first half, making 6 of 9 shots including 3 of 6 from behind the arc for 18 points. Midway through the half he hit his second 3-pointer to equal A&M's total points at 14. For the half, Johnson had half of KU's field goals. The other Jayhawks (23-5, 13-2) hit just 6 of 22 shots. Robinson and Taylor, who came in averaging 17.7 and 16.6 points a game, went a combined 1 for 9.

KU's second leading scorer for the half was little-used forward Kevin Young, who had four.

"I thought we had a couple of players play miserably the first half," Self said. "Elijah was great in the first half. I didn't relize he had 18 until I saw the stat sheet, but it doen't bode well for you when your second leading scorer has four."

Robinson's lone first-half highlight came when he went for a follow shot and got undercut by his own teammate. Robinson fell hard and stayed on the floor near the backboard stand for some time.

Kansas' 39 percent shooting seemed impressive compared to the Aggies' 29 percent on 9 of 31 shooting.

David Loubeau was the only Aggie who shot over 50 percent in the first half, making 3 of 5, but he played just eight minutes because of foul trouble.

Harris, who had been out with a foot injury, entered the game with 16:09 remaining in the first half. He hit 1 of 3 shots and had two of the Aggies' three first-half assists.

The only stat that stood out positively for A&M was Elston Turner's seven rebounds.

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NOTES -- The teams combined for more rebounds in the first half (44) than A&M and Missouri had in an entire game (42) on Saturday. ... The attendance was the worst for an A&M-Kansas game since 1998. ... Loubeau fouled out for the second straight game.