College Station, TX (Sports Network) - Cole Aldrich scored 12 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and had five blocks, and top-ranked Kansas used a sparkling defensive stand down the stretch to take a 59-54 win over No. 24 Texas A&M, stopping the Aggies' 16-game home winning streak.
In Progress: Texas A&M Battles No. 1 Kansas
Xavier Henry also had 12 points and made some key free throws in the late going for the Jayhawks (25-1, 11-0 Big 12), who have won 11 in a row since their lone defeat - January 10 at Tennessee. Marcus Morris also scored 12 in the victory.
Kansas held the Aggies without a point for the final 4:08 of the game and finished the contest on an 11-2 spurt.
David Loubeau had 17 points and Donald Sloan added 15 for Texas A&M (18-7, 7-4), which had won its previous four games.
Sloan’s jumper gave the Aggies a 54-52 edge with just over four minutes left, but Morris tied the game by making two foul shots.
Henry then went 1-of-2 at the charity stripe with 3 1/2 minutes remaining, and the Jayhawks widened their lead when Aldrich was credited with a bucket about a minute later thanks to a goaltending call on Bryan Davis.
The Jayhawks were called for a shot clock violation with 59 seconds to go, but Sloan turned the ball over after driving into the lane. that allowed Henry to seal the victory with a pair of foul shots with 26.8 showing on the clock.
There was a scary moment in the first half for Texas A&M guard Dash Harris. He raced in for a breakaway layup try after an A&M steal, but was fouled by Aldrich and landed hard on his left side under the basket. He remained on the floor for a couple of minutes before being carried off the court to the locker room. He returned to the game with 2:24 left in the first half.
It was a back-and-forth contest in that half, but the Aggies held a 32-30 edge at the break thanks to Loubeau’s jumper in the final minute.
Kansas leads the overall series, 15-1...The 25-1 mark is KU's best record since the 1996-97 team was 34-1. Kansas is also 11-0 in conference play for first time since the 2002 KU team went 16-0...The game was played before a record crowd of 13,657 in Reed Arena...Aldrich has 98 blocks this season, the most ever in one season in school history, surpassing the 97 set by Greg Ostertag in 1993-94...Davis had 10 rebounds...Kansas' Sherron Collins was limited to seven points on 2-of-9 shooting...The Aggies went 34.9 percent from the field.
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