Improving rebounding and sinking shots from the free throw line will be the main goals for the ISU men’s basketball team when it takes on Texas A&M Wednesday at Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones, 11-4 (2-2 Big 12), were outrebounded by the Baylor Bears 42-33 in their 63-59 road loss Saturday.

“We just have to learn from it,” senior guard Jake Sullivan said. “We didn’t play well down there [at Baylor] and we have to bounce back.”

While Texas A&M is struggling this year (7-8, 0-4 Big 12), the Cyclones aren’t expecting things to be any easier.

“They’re pretty good,” head coach Wayne Morgan said. “They gave [No. 18] Texas Tech all they could handle.”

Last Saturday, the Aggies took the Red Raiders down to the wire falling 80-78 to a squad that was, at that time, ranked 13th.

“They [Texas A&M] play hard, and they have a couple of players who can play,” freshman guard Curtis Stinson said. “You know they’re not going to back away from anything.”

Players and coaches all said they see the Cyclones’ rebounding as the key to Iowa State’s ability to win.

“We just have to box out and rebound, that’s the big key,” Stinson said.

“We let some rebounds slip away that we should have had. We have to be a better rebounding team, but that’s something we’re going to work on in practice.”

Iowa State’s ability to rebound was hampered by center Jared Homan’s absence. Homan sat out the game after spraining his ankle against Iowa.

Morgan said Homan’s injury is day-to-day, and it isn’t known whether Homan will play against Texas A&M.

“We have to rebound better as a team, as a collective five,” Sullivan said. “We rely a lot on Homan and [Jackson] Vroman grabbing rebounds, and when Homan isn’t in there that hurts.”

Another thing that has hurt the Cyclones all season long has been their inconsistency from the free throw line. As a team, Iowa State is shooting just 66 percent from the line and 54 percent in the last three games.

Subtract Sullivan’s season average of 97 percent from the team totals, and the Cyclones are shooting 61 percent from the foul line and a dismal 39 percent in their last three contests.

“It’s easier to shoot them in practice than the game,” Sullivan said. “We’ll pick it up, but it’s one area we have to work on.”

Easy for Sullivan to say.

Iowa State’s all-time leading 3-point shooter joined the ranks of the greatest free throwers in NCAA history during Iowa State’s game against Iowa last week. The NCAA requires an athlete to make at least 300 free throws to earn a spot in the record books.

Sullivan’s career mark of 89.5 percent (306-for-342) places him in a tie for seventh place on the all-time NCAA charts. He is also the leader of both the Big 12 and ISU career free throw percentage lists.

On the season he has made 35-of-36 foul shots, recording his only miss during the Iowa game.

“It’s a cool accomplishment, but obviously my goal is to win basketball games,” Sullivan said. “It’s kind of neat to be able to say I’ve got my name in here, but that’s about it — I just want to win games.”