Aggies Gear Up for Crimson Tide Challenge

Saturday, February 17

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

11:00 AM

Texas A&M

Alabama

Photo by: Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics

Feb 16, 2024 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes vs. ALA Coach Williams Press Conference Leveque Press Conference

By: Brad Marquardt, Assistant AD/Athletics Communications

TUSCALOOSA - The Texas A&M men's basketball team faces a daunting road task against the No. 15 Alabama Crimson Tide at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Coleman Coliseum.

The Aggies will be seeking to snap the Tide's 14-game home winning streak against SEC opponents.
Since joining the SEC in 2012-13, the Aggies are 3-4 at Coleman Coliseum, but have won the last three meetings in Tuscaloosa.
In the Buzz Williams era, the Aggies are 3-1 against the Crimson Tide, but dropped the most recent contest in the 2023 SEC Tournament final.
Since 2021-22, the Aggies and Tide are tied with 67 total wins in that span (third-most in the league). In SEC and SEC Tournament games since 2021-22, UA and Tennessee lead the way with 37 while the Aggies are third with 35.

TV/RADIO INFORMATION

The game will be televised on ESPN with Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst) on the call. ESPN Radio has the national call of the game with Chris Carlin and Bob Valvano describing the action.
The matchup airs on the Texas A&M Radio Network, locally on 1620 AM/94.5 FM or worldwide on the 12th Man Mobile App with Andrew Monaco and Dr. John Thornton describing the action.

TRENDS AND NOTABLES

The Aggies have shot 40.0% or better from the field in four straight SEC games for the first time since doing it in seven straight contests in the spring of 2022 from 2/22 to 3/12.
The team is shooting 44.9 FG% over the past five games, compared to 32.9% in its first six league games.
With a string of six games with at least nine FT misses in the not-so-distant past, the Aggies have converted 82.0% of their FTs over the past three games, including a 17-for-17 effort vs. Vandy on Tuesday.
Texas A&M owns a SEC-high five Quadrant 1 victories.
Two of the pillars of Texas A&M's success this season have been earning more FGA than its opponent and limiting turnovers, but the last two opponents have shot more balls and had fewer give-aways than the Aggies.
With just eight offensive rebounds against Vandy, the Aggies had fewer than 12 offensive boards for the first time this season and lost the o-rebounding battle for only the third time in 2023-24.
The Aggies have committed fewer fouls than their opponents in 8-of-11 SEC games and are t4th in the league in fouls/G (16.9).
The M&W lead the SEC in fewest turnovers at 9.5/G in league games. Texas A&M is 1-3 when it doesn't win the turnover battle in SEC play.
The Aggies are 12-1 in games when Tyrece Radford hits the 20-point plateau since his arrival in 2021-22. Similarly, the Aggies are 17-11 when "Boots" scores less than 10 points (4-5 against SEC teams).
Radford has hit over 50.0 FG% in four straight games while attempting at least 10 shots in each game.
Wade Taylor IV is one of just two players in DI with 50+ 3-pointers, assists, steals, defensive rebounds and free throws made. The other player is Montana State's graduate guard Robert Ford III.
Henry Coleman III is returning to form after suffering an injury against Kentucky on 1/13. He scored 13 points vs. Vandy, which was his highest point total since scoring 17 vs. Auburn on 1/9.

SEEKING 500 … AGAIN
Wade Taylor IV needs 24 points to reach the 500-point plateau for the second straight season. Other SEC players within 25 points of 500 are UA's Mark Sears (491) and UT's Dalton Knecht (489).

The last Aggie to reach 500 in back-to-back years was the program's all-time leading scorer Bernard King in 2000-01 and 2001-02. It's been accomplished three times in school history.
The only SEC players to post consecutive 500-point seasons in the last five seasons were OM's Breein Tyree, UK's Oscar Tshiebwe, MSU's Iverson Molinar.

BEST AGAINST THE BEST
Among DI players with three or more games vs. AP Top 25 teams, Wade Taylor IV ranks No. 3 with a 26.6 scoring average.
Taylor is the only DI player with three 30-point games vs ranked teams in 2023-24.

2023-24 DI Scoring Leaders vs. AP Top 25 Teams
(Min. 3 Games)

Player, School	Games	Pts./G
David Jones, Memphis	4	28.3
Johnell Davis, FAU	3	26.7
Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M	5	26.6
Boo Buie, Northwestern	5	25.4
Terrence Shannon, Illinois	3	25.3

Taylor IV vs. AP Top 25 Teams (2023-24)

Opponent (Date)	Points	Rebounds	Assists
vs. #19 FAU (11/24)	35	3	5
vs. #4 Houston (12/16)	34	3	4
at #16 Auburn (1/9)	8	3	1
#6 Kentucky (1/13)	31	6	5
#6 Tennessee (2/10)	25	3	7
at #15 Alabama (2/17)

SUCCEEDING IN THE TREES
The Aggies' guard tandem of Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford are two of just six SEC players averaging over 4.0 rebounds and 17.0 points in SEC play.

Players w. 4.0+ Rebs / 17.0+ Pts in SEC Play
(Sorted by Rebounds/Game)

Player, School	Ht.	Rebs./G	Pts./G
Tyrece Radford, Texas A&M	6' 3''	5.5	17.3
Dalton Knecht, Tennessee	6' 6''	5.4	26.0
Tramon Mark, Arkansas	6' 6''	4.8	17.7
Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M	6' 0''	4.7	22.5
Antonio Reeves, Kentucky	6' 6''	4.5	20.1
Mark Sears, Alabama	6' 1''	4.3	21.8

THIN MARGINS
The margin has been thin in multiple games for the Aggies this season with 11 contests being tied or a one-possession game after the under 4:00 media timeout.

Texas A&M in Tight Games in 2023-24

Opponent (Date)	Score	Time	Result
at Vanderbilt (2/13)	A&M led 73-72	:13	L, 73-74
Florida (2/3)	A&M led 67-66	:35	W, 67-66
Ole Miss (1/27)	62-62 tie	:46	L, 68-71
Missouri (1/23)	A&M led 56-53	3:21	W, 63-57
at LSU (1/20)	A&M led 70-69	1:04	W, 73-69
at Arkansas (1/16)	A&M led 77-76	:07	L, 77-78
Kentucky (1/13)	89-89 tie	0:00	W, 97-92 ot
at Auburn (1/9)	AU led 56-54	2:54	L, 55-66
vs. Houston (12/16)	UH led 69-66	.05	L, 66-70
vs. Iowa St.(11/26)	A&M led 72-69	:02	W, 73-69
at Ohio St. (11/10)	A&M led 63-60	2:54	W, 73-66

SCORING PUNCH AT GUARD
Texas A&M's guard tandem of Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford averages 40.2 points in SEC play, making them the No. 2 guard scoring tandem through Feb. 10.

SEC Guard Scoring Tandems

Players, School	G	Points	Scoring Avg.
Knecht/Zeigler, Tennessee	11	441	40.1
Taylor IV/Radford, Texas A&M	11	437	39.7
Sears/Griffen, Alabama	11	385	35.0
Reeves/Dillingham, Kentucky	11	384	34.9
Clayton Jr./Pullin, Florida	11	378	34.3

ON THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
Despite a season-low eight offensive rebounds vs. Vanderbilt, Texas A&M's 17.7 offensive rebounds/game still ranks No. 1 nationally.

The Aggies average 1.5 more offensive rebounds/game than any other DI team (No. 2 Florida averages 16.2/G).
In SEC games, the Aggies average a league-high 16.5 offensive rebounds, again just ahead of UF (16.2).
The Aggies have lost the offensive rebounding battle only three times this season - 14-13 vs. LSU (1/6), 17-15 vs. Iowa State (11/26) and 13-8 at VU (2/13).
Texas A&M stands atop KenPom's offensive rebounding percentage at 43.1, which is nearly 3.0% higher than any other DI team.