Aggies fight but fall to No. 5 Kansas

Texas A&M (22-9, 8-8 Big 12) led after almost ten minutes of play, were within 7 points midway through the second half, before falling to No. 5 Kansas (28-3, 15-3 Big 12) on Saturday afternoon. Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers each scored 16 points to lead the Jayhawks.

Texas A&M (22-9, 8-8 Big 12) led after almost ten minutes of play, were within 7 points midway through the second half, before falling to No. 5 Kansas (28-3, 15-3 Big 12) on Saturday afternoon.

After ten and a half minutes of play, the Aggies held a 15-14 lead.

Over the next four minutes Kansas went on a 14-5 to open up a 28-20 lead.

Kansas extended the lead to 11 points, 34-23, at the 1:52 mark in the first half.

A&M pulled back within 8 on a 3-pointer by Donald Sloan before Mario Chalmers made a layup to give Kansas a 36-26 halftime lead.

Sophomore Darrell Arthur was 6-of-7 from the field totalling 12 points with 6 rebounds at the half to lead Kansas.

In the first minute of the second half, Kansas extended their lead to 13 points, 41-28.

The Aggies fought back and pulled to within 6 points, 44-38, on a 3-pointer by Josh Carter with 14:44 left in the game.

A&M stayed within 7 points, 51-44, until midway through the second half.

Kansas outscored the Aggies 21-11 down the stetch to pull away for a 72-55 win over the Aggies.

Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers each scored 16 points to lead the Jayhawks.

Dominique Kirk and Donald Sloan had 15 points to lead the Aggies in scoring.

Kansas outrebounded A&M 37-32 with Arthur leading the Jayhawks with 9 rebounds.

The Aggies shot just 31.9% from the field, with Josh Carter 1-of-11 and Joseph Jones 2-of-7.

The loss will leave Texas A&M on the NCAA tourney bubble, and the Aggies may need at least one win in the Big 12 tourney to secure an NCAA tourney invite.

Texas A&M will now enter the Big 12 tourney as the sixth seed and will face the eleventh seed, either Colorado or Iowa State game, on Thursday at 8:30 pm in Kansas City.

A&M's Thursday Big 12 tourney game will be broadcast on ESPN2.