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GAME NOTES: The Iowa State Cyclones will attempt to put an end to a 20-game losing streak against ranked foes when they entertain the 24th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies today at Hilton Coliseum in Ames.

Texas A&M is coming off just its seventh loss of the season, as it fell to No. 1 Kansas last Monday in a 59-54 final at home. The Aggies had won four straight and six of their previous seven before the setback. They own a 7-4 record in conference, and while the Big 12 regular-season title is out of the questions, improved seeding in the upcoming conference tournament is the goal from here on out.

Iowa State is mired in a five-game losing streak, and the team has just one victory in its last nine outings. The Cyclones played host to Oklahoma State on Wednesday, falling to the Cowboys in a 69-64 final. The loss dropped ISU to an even 13-13 on the year and to just 2-9 in league play. The Cyclones are 10-5 at home this season.

Texas A&M owns an 8-7 lead in the all-time series with Iowa State, reaching that point by winning the last six meetings. The Aggies have won three of the last four encounters in Ames.

The Aggies have gotten consistent production from a pair of seniors in Donald Sloan and Bryan Davis. Sloan ranks fourth in the Big 12 in scoring at 18.2 ppg and he is just the second player in school history to post 1,300 points, 300 assists and 400 rebounds in a career. As for Davis, he needs just seven points to reach 1,000 for his career and he is currently averaging 10.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per contest, the latter ranking him eighth in the conference. The team as a whole owns favorable margins in scoring (+7.2), rebounding (+2.5) and turnovers (+2.0), but some of the negatives include a 31.8 percent effort from three-point range and a 64.9 percent showing at the foul line. David Loubeau scored a game-high 17 points in Monday's home loss to top-ranked Kansas, while Sloan finished with 15 points despite a 6-of-18 shooting performance. A&M shot just 34.9 percent from the field and made good on only 5-of-21 three-point tries. As for the Jayhawks, they were dreadful out on the perimeter (1-of-10), but outscored the Aggies at the charity stripe (18-5), in bench points (16-9) and off turnovers (14-3).

Iowa State has three players currently ranked among the top-10 on the Big 12's rebounding chart (league games only) in the form of Marquis Gilstrap (10.5 rpg), Craig Brackins (8.8 rpg) and Justin Hamilton (7.3 rpg). For the season, Brackins is the team's leading scorer with 16.8 ppg, while Gilstrap is close behind with 14.4 ppg. Both are shooting less than 44 percent from the floor, the team hitting 44.8 percent of its total shots through 26 games. Defensively, the Cyclones are allowing 69.7 ppg on just 41.5 percent field goal efficiency, while laying claim to a +1.7 rebounding advantage. ISU trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half of its recent clash with Oklahoma State, but battled back to take a three-point lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in regulation. Unfortunately, the Cyclones couldn't hold serve and wound up on the short end of the five-point decision. Scott Christopherson scored a career-high 19 points in dropping 7-of-12 shots from the floor against the Cowboys, and Hamilton added 11 points while coming up just one rebound shy of notching his third double-double of the season. Brackins and Gilstrap both had poor shooting nights, combining to go a mere 5- of-27 from the field.

Texas A&M is the better team in this matchup, but Iowa State is sure to play inspired ball at home in an effort to snap its lengthy slide against ranked foes. Expect the Aggies to earn a narrow victory in what should be a hard- fought game throughout.