DALLAS — Two bad ankles and a bum shoulder didn’t stop Jake Sullivan Thursday, and neither could the Texas A&M Aggies.

Iowa State posted their highest point total of the season in a beginning-to-end romp over Texas A&M, 97-70, in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. Sullivan scored 17 points and was one of six players to score in double figures for the Cyclones. Tim Barnes had a game-high 21 points, making five of eight from beyond the arc.

“It’s always up to the point guard to set the tone for the team and my teammates are great,” Barnes said. “They all played tough, they came in and gave 110 percent, and once they see me get going, everyone gets going.”

And get going they did. Marcus Jefferson scored 19 points off the bench, Jared Homan scored 15 and Adam Haluska put in 12 points for Iowa State as the team shot 52 percent for the game. Jackson Vroman had a double-double, grabbing 11 boards to go with his 13 points.

“We thought a couple things were critical, and one of them was rebounding,” head coach Larry Eustachy said. “We had to outrebound them and keep them off the boards. We had to be more determined than them and get all the loose balls. . . .”

With the win, No. 9 seed Iowa State (16-12) moves on to face top-seeded Kansas (24-6) in round two of the tournament Friday. Texas A&M (14-14), the No. 8 seed, is done for the year.

Aggies leading scorer Bernard King scored 20 points, but had to earn 13 of them at the charity stripe. Iowa State held a 42-31 rebounding advantage and outscored Texas A&M 46-20 in the paint.

“We played some great defense at times, but we really broke down and fouled way too much, but it wasn’t from lack of effort,” Eustachy said.

Iowa State jumped out to a 26-7 lead in the first half, shooting well from all over the floor. The Cyclones made nine of 17 from long range for the game and had 19 points off of turnovers to just nine for the Aggies.

“We thought the start would determine the game, all the way from the jump ball. The start was the game,” Eustachy said. “We wanted to put them on their heels. When you make shots, it really helps.”

With four players ending the game with four fouls for Iowa State and two other players with three fouls, the bench was a big factor.

Along with Jefferson’s performance, John Neal played 11 solid minutes and Clint Varley played eight.

“Neal has been very good in practice,” Eustachy said. “I thought he was a huge factor in keeping the lead.”

“If it wasn’t for their play off the bench, it might have hurt us,” Vroman added about the team’s abundance of fouls.

Barnes dished out eight assists and had two steals to go along with his impressive shooting performance where he made eight of 12 shots from the floor.

“When he is hitting shots like that, we’re tough to beat,” Sullivan said of his point guard. “He’s the reason we’re having success, as he goes, we go.”

Iowa State, which dropped a game to the Aggies earlier in the year at College Station, won a conference game away from home for the first time since beating Kansas State in Manhattan on Feb. 21, 2001. Eustachy said he was very impressed with his team’s focus before the game.

“The problem with this team and the youth of it is losing focus,” Eustachy said.

“When we’re not completely on edge, we can’t beat anybody. But when we’re totally on edge and figuring out how we have to play, I think they were as focused as they’ve been all year.”

The win comes just over a week after the passing of Pete Taylor, the “Voice of the Cyclones” and long-time friend of Eustachy.

“I just really have an empty feeling right now, you don’t know how many times Pete Taylor goes through my mind during this game,” he said.

“I’m excited, I’m happy for our players, I just really wish Pete was here to enjoy it with us. But I’m sure he’s watching.”

Iowa State faces Kansas Friday at noon.