Alabama is hoping to gain some frontcourt firepower during its trip to Cleveland for the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide lost forward Grant Nelson to a knee injury during its loss to Florida in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament on Saturday.

Nelson limped off the court during the under-4 media timeout of the first half of the Tide’s loss to the Gators. He went straight to the locker room, where he was evaluated by a team doctor, who determined he wasn’t able to return to the game.

Alabama coach Nate Oats told reporters Sunday that Nelson would see a specialist for his knee. He gave another update on Nelson’s status Monday during his weekly “Hey Coach” radio show.

"We need to get him healthy,” Oats said. “Not sure if he'll be ready by Friday. We're hoping at a minimum he'd be ready by Sunday with the possibility of maybe being ready by Friday. I thought he played pretty well. We dodged one. It wasn't anything too serious with his knee, but for sure will be questionable for Friday."

Alabama (25-8) earned the No. 2 seed in the East Region and will play No. 15 Robert Morris (26-8) on Friday in Cleveland. If the Tide advances, it will face the winner of No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s (28-5) and No. 10 seed Vanderbilt (20-12) next Sunday.

Nelson is averaging 11.9 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 52.7% from the floor this season. He dealt with nagging injuries towards the end of the regular season but bounced back in Alabama's win over Auburn with 23 points. He's appeared in all 32 games for Alabama with 30 starts.