Riding the high of their first marquee win of the season over Kentucky as well as a four-game winning streak the Florida Gators (15-6, 5-3 SEC) will look to keep things rolling against the Texas A&M Aggies (12-8, 3-4 SEC) on February 3rd in College Station, Texas.
Last year the Aggies were a pleasant surprise finishing second in the SEC regular season and falling to Alabama in the title game. They did get upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as a 7-seed, though it was still an extremely successful season relative to what was expected of the Aggies and with a number of returning players from that roster the media was high on them entering 2023-24. The poll saw them picked to finish second in the SEC, with Wade Taylor the preseason pick for SEC Player Of The Year. Unfortunately for the Aggies, things haven’t exactly gone according to plan.
Starting the season with non-conference wins over Iowa State, Ohio State, Penn State, and SMU–things were looking solid for the Aggies. They got as high as 13th in KenPom during that stretch and they were looking exactly like the team people expected to be the second best in the SEC. However, things took a wrong turn in conference play. There was a loss to Auburn, which is excusable, but there were also losses to LSU, Arkansas, and Ole Miss. They did muster wins over LSU and Missouri, two of the worst performing teams in the league–but they barely got by them winning 73-69 and 63-57. These poor performances have seen the Aggies take a nosedive in the rankings and they now sit at 47th in KenPom and 46th in the NET, meaning this is a very beatable team that is currently playing its worst basketball of the season. The opportunity to get a quadrant-1 win against a team that’s playing poorly and nearly dropping games to the worst teams in the league doesn’t come often–and the Gators should be salivating. After beating Kentucky at Rupp the Gators have their first quadrant-1 win bringing their record to 1-6 in that category and they’d love to add to that total on Saturday.
When it comes to Texas A&M’s recent struggles you can mostly look to the offensive side of the ball. In a loss to Virginia early in the season the Aggies mustered only 47 points, and in back to back losses to LSU and Auburn they scored 53 points in each game. In their most recent loss to Ole Miss, Texas A&M had a slow start scoring only 29 points in the first half and never really catching their rhythm. These offensive troubles come as a surprise as head coach Buzz Williams has usually had better offensive than defensive teams, and last year it was the Aggies’ ability to score efficiently that powered them to the strong finish in the SEC. They also have one of the most dangerous scorers in the country in Wade Taylor, so you would have thought the Aggies would have been able to put the ball in the basket. That hasn’t been the case, and many of their numbers are downright hard to look at. Currently the Aggies are 350th in the country in three-point percentage, and things aren’t much better from two-point land where they are 292nd in the country. Even when they go to the free throw line things can’t be easy as they’re 266th. It seems like the Aggies have struggled to find flow through their offensive sets and their inability to shoot makes opposing teams more likely to go zone against them which also hurts Texas A&M’s flow, making for a constant feedback loop of struggles that has not been easy for their fans to watch.
The one player who has brought the offensive firepower is Wade Taylor who has been spectacular averaging 20.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, backing up his preseason SEC Player Of The Year honor. Those numbers are incredible, and they’re made even more impressive by the fact that he’s not getting much help from any of his teammates, particularly from a floor spacing standpoint. Taylor is a lethal scorer off the dribble who is always trying to get downhill and score in the paint and to this point no one has had much success stopping him. Without many shooters on Texas A&M’s roster opponents have been free to load up the paint against Taylor which hypothetically should limit his effectiveness but still he’s been able to get to his spots and finish. After Taylor’s 20.0 points per game the Aggies’ second highest scorer is Taylor’s backcourt mate Tyrece Radford at 13.0 points per game and while he’s been solid there is a definite drop off in production there, making it clear on Florida’s scouting report that slowing down Taylor is the priority. Of course, this has been the case for every opponent who has tried to let anyone else but Taylor beat him and he has still found a way to put up huge totals, but we’ll see if the Gators can do anything different.
As mentioned earlier the Aggies miss a ton of shots but they embrace it by sending nearly everyone to the glass and it has resulted in them being the number one offensive rebounding team in the country, even ahead of Florida who is third. Here’s the thing–there is a pretty big difference between how the two teams get it done. With Florida it’s all about length and having two 6’9” or taller guys on the floor at all times. However, with Texas A&M–the size is much different. While 6’11”, 250 pound Wildens Leveque usually gets the start it’s more ceremonial than anything–he’s only averaging 11.7 minutes per game. The player who really plays most of the “5” is 6’7”, 215 pound Andersson Garcia, and he’s joined by 6’7”, 220 pound Solomon Washington. That’s a pretty miniscule frontcourt by SEC standards but it doesn’t stop them from being animals on the offensive glass using their low center of gravity to bounce opposing bigs off them on their way to fighting for rebounds. 6’8”, 245 pound Henry Coleman brings a bit of that style with a little bit more bulk, but in recent games he’s gone to bench and has seen a little less action. It can’t just be Florida’s frontcourt that’s concerned about the glass, however, as Tyrece Radford and Jace Carter are guards who love to get in on the offensive glass taking advantage of opposing guards who aren’t used to boxing out.
For Florida, the key to this game has to be keeping Texas A&M off the offensive glass. Since the Aggies are so inefficient offensively their only way to pile on points is with offensive rebounding and if the Gators hold them to one shot it should be a huge challenge for them to put up a decent point total. Of course, the Gators would also love to slow down Wade Taylor–but it’s easier said than done. Quick off the dribble guards have given the Gators issues defensively this season and Taylor is one of the best in the country and that will be a huge concern for Florida and it will be interesting to see which players they try to use on him defensively to try and get an advantage.
Right now Florida is playing their best basketball of the season and a win over Texas A&M would be huge for their resume as well as their ongoing momentum.
Florida and Texas A&M tip off Saturday 3rd at 4 PM ET and it will be televised on ESPN 2.