Alabama basketball center Charles Bediako day-to-day with knee injury

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama basketball might have to manage without one of its starters as it looks to keep its perfect run in SEC play alive. Head coach Nate Oats announced Tuesday that Charles Bediako is day-to-day after suffering a knee injury against Auburn.

“He did have a minor knee injury in the Auburn game, he played through it,” Oats said following Tuesday’s practice. “He’s day-to-day. He’s gotten better every day since the Auburn game, so we’ll see where he’s at tomorrow on game day.”

Bediako played 28 minutes against Auburn, recording 6 points and five rebounds to go with two blocks. The 7-foot sophomore has started all 25 of Alabama’s games this season at the center position. He is averaging 5.6 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 60.4% from the floor.

Bediako is also a stalwart on the defensive side of the ball where he leads the team averaging 1.6 blocks per game. He has been an especially big presence at the rim of late, tallying four blocks against Florida and two more against Auburn last week.

Potential replacements for Bediako include graduate student Noah Gurley and junior Nick Pringle.

Gurley started 14 games last season and has one start this campaign. The 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward is averaging 5.4 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 44.9% from the floor and 27.1% from beyond the arc over 15.9 minutes per game this season.

Pringle, a junior college transfer, has yet to make a start over 24 appearances this season. The 6-foot-9, 220-pound forward leads the team with a 92.3 field-goal percentage (24 of 26) while also averaging 2.6 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.

No. 1 Alabama (22-3, 12-0 in the SEC) will travel to No. 10 Tennessee (19-6, 8-4) for a 6 p.m. CT tipoff Wednesday inside Thompson-Boling Arena. The game will be televised on ESPN2.