Khris Middleton led the way with 13 points and eight rebounds as No. 18 Texas A&M held off McNeese State 66-57 on Friday.

Nathan Walkup added 10 points and six boards for the Aggies (12-1), who controlled the second half en route to their ninth straight win.

The Cowboys (4-9) grabbed a 37-30 lead at the break, and held Texas A&M to 36 percent shooting in the first half while shooting 58 percent themselves. The Aggies were even worse from the field to begin the second half as they missed 10 of their first 12 shots.

But McNeese State had cooled off by the time the second half tipped off as well, and Texas A&M was able to overtake the lead with a 19-8 burst over the first 10 minutes. The Cowboys pulled to within 56-53 on Patrick Richard’s jumper with 3:43 left, but the Aggies managed to hold them off.

Texas A&M gets one more tune-up against Nichols State on Monday before opening Big 12 play at Oklahoma next weekend. The true test will come in the back half of January, when Texas A&M kicks off a six-game stretch that includes five against ranked teams.