Oklahoma will not have to take on the Aggies at full strength.
According to the SEC Student-Athlete Availability Report released Tuesday evening, Texas A&M will be without guard Wade Taylor IV because of a lower-body injury when the Sooners host the Aggies at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday. The game will be broadcasted on SEC Network.
This will be the second game Taylor misses this season. He also briefly left Saturday's win against Texas but still returned and finished the game. Apparently that injury still lingered enough to sideline Taylor, though.
Despite already battling an injury, Taylor is still the Aggies' leading scorer this season, averaging 15.7 points a game as a senior.
The news of Taylor being out was not released until after OU coach Porter Moser had a press conference earlier Tuesday. Porter was asked about Taylor and spoke highly of him.
"Elite player," Moser said. "Elite, elite player. He scores at all levels. He's such a veteran that nothing rattles him, there's nothing he hasn't seen. ...
"Just an elite player. Competitor, uber competitor. Just got a ton of respect for him just watching him from afar, and then now diving into him. Elite player."
With Taylor missing some time on Saturday, fellow guard Zhuric Phelps stepped up and led the Aggies with 18 points in the 80-60 blowout win against Texas. Phelps is averaging 13.3 points this season.
The Aggies had an opposite start to SEC play than the Sooners. The win catapulted Texas A&M inside the top 10 of the latest Associated Press Top 25 at No. 10 with a 12-2 record.
Meanwhile, OU dropped in both polls and sit at No. 17 in the AP Top 25 after suffering its first loss of the season. No. 5 Alabama handled the Sooners 107-79 on Saturday in Tuscaloosa.
Wednesday night will be the Sooners' first-ever SEC men's basketball game at Lloyd Noble Center. It will not be the first time hosting Texas A&M for a conference matchup, though, since both teams were both in the Big 12 at one time.