Texas A&M's Wade Taylor, Tyrece Radford cooked Kentucky well done in both matchups

A small silver lining to Kentucky losing again to Texas A&M? They won’t have to guard Wade Taylor IV or Tyrece Radford anymore (not this season, at least).

The Aggies’ starting backcourt had its way with Kentucky in both meetings — two months apart — against the Wildcats. UK simply had no answer for the dynamic guards.

During the first matchup in College Station all the way back on Jan. 13 — just the third SEC game of the season for both teams — Taylor and Radford combined to score 59 of Texas A&M’s 97 points. Radford finished with a game-high 31 points while Radford wasn’t far behind with 28 of his own. Despite a 7-24 overall shooting clip from Radford that included a 1-11 mark from two-point range, the junior guard drilled six three-pointers (tied for the most he would make in a game all season). Radford was more efficient, going 11-22 from the field. The pair shot 21 combined free throws.

Kentucky lost that game 97-92 in overtime.

Friday’s SEC Tournament quarterfinals in Nashville might as well have been a remake of the original. Taylor finished with 32 points on slightly better efficiency (11-24 FG). Again, he made six triples, meaning in the three games this season he’s done so, two have come against the ‘Cats. Radford contributed 23 points on 8-18 shooting in addition to seven rebounds and six assists. That’s another 55 points by just two players.

Kentucky lost this game 97-87, no overtime needed — the Aggies controlled momentum from start to finish.

For those counting at home, that’s a combined 114 points for Taylor and Radford out of a possible 194 in two games. Just under 59 percent of the Aggies’ overall scoring against Kentucky came from the starting backcourt. Those two shot just 42 percent on 88 attempts to get there, too.

After watching Taylor and Radford cook Kentucky the first time, you’d think the game plan in game two would be to focus on them a bit more. And even if that was the strategy, it didn’t pan out. Both were able to fire off several clean shots from deep and there was little resistance when they got inside the paint.

Kentucky’s defensive issues have been a talking point all season long. But to give up so many points to just two players despite having 40 minutes of film to help prepare is even more concerning, especially with the NCAA Tournament right around the corner.