Florida startled their SEC season with a high-effort exhibition against Auburn but couldn’t get the win and they now look to get into the win column against the Texas A&M Aggies.
Things haven’t been off to a great start in College Station as the Aggies (8-5) have left some wins on the table and they could also use a win against the Gators (7-6, 0-1 SEC) to get on the right track.
Picked to finish 6th in the SEC preseason poll there were decent expectations following Texas A&M following a tremendous finish to last season but things haven’t gone according to plan as the Aggies have dropped games to Murray State, Boise State, and Wofford in showings they’d certainly love to have back. Much like the Gators, the Aggies are yet to put up a quality win and right now the strongest resume showing for them is a dismantling of DePaul on the road. Oregon State is the one common opponent the Gators and Aggies have with the Aggies beating the Beavers 72-54 while the Gators took them down 81-68.
Florida was picked one spot behind the Aggies to finish 7th in the SEC so even from the preseason it looked like these teams were going to be jostling with each other for position and unfortunately for both teams there have been issues and difficulties beating quality opponents. The Aggies are currently 73rd in KenPom and are 44th in adjusted offense and 112th in adjusted defense.
Returning Gators might have revenge on their mind as it was Texas A&M who functionally ended Florida’s 2021-22 season by taking them down in overtime in the first game of the SEC Tournament. For the Gators to make the NCAA Tournament they were going to need a couple of wins in the SEC Tournament, but the Aggies quickly dashed any hopes of that happening, leaving a distraught Florida team frustrated with how the season had gone.
There are a few key returning pieces from the Texas A&M roster last season, which was part of the reason they were expected to be a quality team in the SEC.
This starts with second year point guard Wade Taylor who has been tremendous this year averaging 16 points and 4 assists per game. The Aggies offense has been quality this season and much of the success can be tied to Taylor who has been a lead guard who can both get his teammates involved or go get a bucket himself when the team needs it. Standing only 6’0” tall he’s not physically imposing but he’s slippery and tough to guard, and keeping him out of the paint has been made even more difficult as he is hitting 39% of his threes on over 6 attempts per game, making him one of the best shooters in the league. Taylor is also impactful on the defensive end and is aggressive making plays on the ball, averaging 2.3 steals per game. Things haven’t been off to a great start for the Aggies this year but a definite bright spot is Taylor who is an outstanding player who could lead the point at Texas A&M for several more years to come.
A very familiar name to Florida fans will be Tyrece Radford who has been a thorn in the Gators’ side for two seasons now. First, he nearly knocked the Gators out of the NCAA Tournament while playing for Virginia Tech, scoring 18 points and getting key buckets down the stretch that evaporated Florida’s lead and sent the game to overtime. Luckily for the Gators, they were still able to pull out that victory. They weren’t so lucky last year where Radford was arguably the best guard on the floor against the Gators, scoring 13 points and adding 4 key assists. With two strong performances against the Gators in two very important games he is someone the Gators need to be aware of, even when the stakes aren’t as high in their second game of SEC conference play. Radford is only 6’2” but is built powerfully at 200 pounds and his blend of speed and physicality has been a difficult matchup for the guards in Florida’s backcourt in recent seasons. Kyle Lofton will likely draw the Radford assignment for much of the time he’s on the floor and his length will be important.
While Radford might have been the best guard for the Aggies when playing against the Gators last year the best player was Henry Coleman who is back once again to bring his brute force post play to the court. Standing at 6’8” he’s not the longest center you’re going to see in the SEC but at 245 pounds he is as strong as anyone. You might think a player of that build would be heavy footed but that isn’t the case for Coleman who moves well and causes chaos on the defensive end. He had 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals to knock the Gators out of the SEC Tournament last year and got the best of Colin Castleton and once again we’ll get to see those two players battle it out. They are two very different builds and playstyles, and whoever gets the best of the matchup could very well win the game for their team.
The Aggies have scored the ball pretty well but it’s their defense that has let them down and the Gators will have to come in with a plan of how to attack them. While Texas A&M has muscular players who are willing to work hard they don’t have a lot of length and don’t have athleticism across the board and it has forced them to really pack the paint in order to protect the rim. While they have had success in limiting points in the paint they have given up a ton of points from the three-point line and they’ll likely be willing to make that tradeoff once again when they play the Gators who have not shot the ball well recently.
The two keys to this game for the Gators will be keeping the Aggies’ backcourt out of the paint defensively and knocking down shots offensively. Florida’s defense has been steadily improving in recent games but their shooting has been concerning, so that could very well be the element that decides the outcome of this game.
This game takes place January 4th at 7 PM ET and will be televised on ESPN U.