As the first half drew to a close Tuesday night at Hilton Coliseum, the ISU men’s basketball team found itself in a close game with No. 18 Texas A&M, trailing 28-24 with 30 seconds left in the half.

On that possession, however, the Aggies got an easy basket on a dunk by center DeAndre Jordan, giving them momentum as they headed to the visitors’ locker room.

That momentum continued into the start of the second half, as the Aggies (19-4, 5-3 Big 12) used a quick 6-0 run on three baskets by forward Bryan Davis to stretch the lead to 12 and effectively put the Cyclones (13-10, 3-5) away to earn their fourth consecutive conference win.

“I thought the first half, we executed our defensive plan well enough to really keep us in the game,” said coach Greg McDermott. “For 20 minutes, we showed that we belong with a team that’s as good as A&M, and in the second half they showed why they’re a top-25 team and we showed why we’re not.”

Forward Jiri Hubalek, who led the Cyclones with 18 points in the 69-51 loss, said the lack of defense in the opening of the second half is something that needs to be avoided against a ranked team like the Aggies.

“We didn’t do a good job throughout the whole game. In the Big 12, against teams like that, we’ve got to show up for 40 minutes,” Hubalek said. “I think the game was lost on defense, so we’ve just got to come back here and work on it and bring it the next game.”

The loss was the fifth straight game that Iowa State failed to reach the 60-point mark. The Cyclones shot just 35.6 percent from the floor in the effort, including just 2 of 15 from downtown in the second half.

“For us to beat a team like A&M, we had to have everybody get their average, and then somebody was going to have to play extraordinary, and we didn’t get that tonight,” McDermott said.

Iowa State forwards Rahshon Clark and Craig Brackins both had season lows in scoring. Clark managed only three points in the game, while Brackins had just two points on a breakaway dunk in the first half.

Although Clark made only one shot, his three-pointer midway through the first half was a big one, as it made him the only player in Big 12 history to record 1,000 points, 100 steals, 100 blocks and 100 3-pointers.

The loss snapped Iowa State’s nine-game winning streak at Hilton Coliseum. During their current five-game scoring drought, the Cyclones have posted a 1-4 record.

With No. 12 Texas (17-4, 4-2) next on the schedule, McDermott said that the Cyclones’ cold shooting will need to improve if they are to give themselves a chance to win.

“If you continue to shoot 35 to 36 percent, you’ve got to be perfect in every other area and be really outstanding defensively,” McDermott said. “We’re just not making enough shots right now.”