The Florida Gators are looking to pick up another quad one win on Saturday evening when they take on Texas A&M in College Station. While the Aggies (12-8, 3-4 SEC) have had quite the up and down season, junior guard Wade Taylor has established himself as one of the better scorers in college basketball, making them a threat to steal a win from the red-hot Gators, who have won four consecutive conference games.
The Dallas, Texas native is averaging 20.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists across 32.1 minutes per game. Taylor currently ranks 30th in the country in points per game and 3rd in the SEC, trailing only Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht and Alabama’s Mark Spears.
“If he’s going to beat us, make him beat us with his weakness,” junior guard Walter Clayton said on defending Wade Taylor. “We’re just gonna try and force him to do his weakness, not allow him open shots, things like his strength, getting downhill, right. So just trying to take away his strengths and force him to play towards his weaknesses.”
Despite Florida’s four game winning streak, the Gators have struggled to limit opposing teams’ star players, most recently allowing 24 points to Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard. Prior to that, Georgia’s RJ Melendez scored 35, Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard accounted for 26, Missouri’s Tamar Bates posted 36, and Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht scored 39. Across Florida’s last five games, the top scorer on the opposing team is averaging 32 points per game.
Taylor’s usage is among the highest in the country, ranking 20th in the country in percentage of plays used and 29th in percentage of shots taken. Taylor accounts for 32.7% of TAMU’s shots. For comparison, Walter Clayton accounts for highest percentage of shots on Florida’s team at 25.6%.
The 6’0, 175-pound guard takes a healthy amount of three pointers and hits them at a respectable clip, at least in conference play. Taylor is averaging nearly 11 three pointers per game in conference play while connecting on 34.7% of his attempts from deep. He also has the ability to get to the free throw line much like the rest of his teammates, logging 7.5 free throws per game in conference play while connecting on 81.1%. Taylor ranks 86th in the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes.
The Aggies’ second highest scorer, Tyrece Radford, averages 13.0 points per game, a noticeable drop off from Taylor. Radford was recently arrested and his availability for Saturday’s game remains in question.
“I am not supposed to talk about anything legal, but I am completely aware of every single thing that is going on and has been,” Aggies Head Coach Buzz Williams said on Radford’s arrest. “I absolutely love Boots. I love his mom. I love his dad. I love his stepmom. I think in the end, it will all be apparent what has transpired. I have learned a lot from it.”
If Radford is unable to play, the emphasis on limiting Wade Taylor becomes much stronger as the Aggies don’t have many offensive weapons to begin with.
Not only is Taylor a gifted scorer, but he gets it done defensively too, posting a steal percentage of 4.0, the 45th best mark in the country.
“I think it’ll be hard if we make it hard,” Clayton said on the challenge of TAMU’s defense. “Obviously they’re a very physical team, so just being tough with the ball, getting open, being physical when getting open. I think our physicality is definitely going to play a big part into it.”
With Florida’s recent success, the Gators aren’t interested in switching up their preparation.
“I wouldn’t say we’re doing anything different,” Clayton said on their preparation for TAMU. “You know, obviously what’s working for us right now is working for us. We’re on a winning streak, so just trying to do everything the same, prepare the same way, just go hard in everything we do.”
The Gators take on Texas A&M on Saturday at 4:00 PM EST.