COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - When Texas A&M lost to Baylor two weeks ago to fall to 3-7 in Big 12 play, coach Mark Turgeon wasn't sure how he'd motivate his team for the end of the season.

Looks like he figured it out.

The Aggies (21-8, 7-7) haven't lost since, and Josh Carter led the way to their fourth straight win Saturday with seven 3-pointers and 29 points in an 87-69 victory against Iowa State.

"In that locker room at Baylor we were down," Turgeon said. "Tough loss. We were down. The best thing that happened to us is that we had Texas coming up."

The winning streak began with an 81-66 defeat of the Longhorns and was followed by wins at Texas Tech and Nebraska. The rout of the Cyclones (14-15, 3-11) gives the Aggies realistic hopes for a fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance.

Iowa State star Craig Brackins, who led his team with 20 points but was held to one basket in the second half, said the Aggies played like a team desperate to win.

"They came out with a motor that (they were) not going to lose," he said. "They're definitely a team on a mission."

The Aggies used a 14-4 run in the opening minutes of the second half to stretch a seven-point lead into a 58-41 advantage.

Texas A&M made five 3-pointers in the next six minutes to push the lead to 73-46 with about nine minutes left.

Carter was 7-of-10 from 3-point range and finished one shy of his career high. He made so many, Brackins got confused about just how well Carter shot.

"I don't even think he missed," Brackins said. "I don't remember seeing him miss."

Chinemelu Elonu added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Aggies.

Turgeon held out regular starters Elonu, Derrick Roland and Donald Sloan for the opening minutes of the game after the trio and several other members of the team were late for a team meeting.

Iowa State coach Greg McDermott was disappointed in his defense as the Cyclones lost their 15th straight Big 12 road game.

"It's hard to win on the road in the Big 12," he said. "It's something we don't talk about. We've been a pretty solid defensive team all year, and this is as poorly as we've played defensively all season."

Iowa State Mn FG-A FT-A Rb As PF TP

Garrett 25 4-9 0-0 3 3 0 9

Brackins 36 9-20 1-1 5 2 2 20

Petersen 20 2-2 0-0 0 1 2 5

Hamilton 15 3-5 0-0 3 0 4 6

Staiger 26 4-8 0-0 3 3 1 10

Boozer 7 2-3 0-0 0 0 0 4

Buckley 19 1-3 1-2 1 2 1 3

Eikmeier 7 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 3

Thompson 11 0-2 0-0 3 1 2 0

Vanderbeken 15 2-4 0-0 2 2 4 5

Lee 3 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0

Haluska 13 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0

Mann 3 1-1 2-3 0 0 0 4

Team 3

Totals 200 29-59 4-6 24 15 18 69

Texas A&M Mn FG-A FT-A Rb As PF TP

Davis 21 3-6 0-0 3 1 3 6

Loubeau 20 1-2 1-2 5 1 0 3

Carter 27 9-12 4-4 5 3 1 29

Graham 5 1-3 0-0 0 1 0 3

Walkup 18 0-5 4-4 4 2 2 4

Lewis 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0

Roland 23 3-6 2-2 2 2 0 8

Harris 14 2-3 0-0 3 4 1 6

Holmes 19 3-5 0-0 2 2 1 7

Darko 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Sloan 23 2-8 0-0 1 3 2 5

Schepel 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Chapman 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Elonu 22 7-8 2-4 10 0 3 16

Carrell 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Team 3

Totals 200 31-59 13-16 38 19 14 87

Iowa State 37 32 - 69

Texas A&M 44 43 - 87

3-point goals - Iowa State 7-17 (Staiger 2-5, Petersen 1-1, Eikmeier 1-1, Vanderbeken 1-2, Garrett 1-3, Brackins 1-3, Boozer 0-1, Buckley 0-1); Texas A&M 12-27 (Carter 7-10, Harris 2-2, Holmes 1-2, Graham 1-3, Sloan 1-4, Lewis 0-1, Roland 0-1, Walkup 0-4). Blocked shots: Iowa State 0; Texas A&M 1 (Elonu). Turnovers: Iowa State 10 (Buckley 3, Garrett 2, Brackins 2); Texas A&M 10 (Walkup 2, Elonu 2). Steals: Iowa State 3 (Garrett, Mann, Haluska); Texas A&M 5 (Elonu 2, Davis 2).

Officials - Whitehead, Chrisman, Adams. Att. - 9,701.