NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Alabama basketball forward Grant Nelson suffered an injury to his left leg and did not return in Alabama's 104-82 loss to Florida in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament on Saturday. Tide coach Nate Oats gave an update on Nelson's status after the game.
"He got that knee injury," Oats said after the game. "I'm not exactly sure what it is. I don't think its anything with an ACL or anything like that. He got evaluated by the team doctor at halftime and they kind of let us know in the second half that he wasn't going to be able to go."
Neslon limped off the court at the under-4 media timeout. From there, he went straight to the Crimson Tide’s locker room. Before suffering the injury, Nelson had nine points and three rebounds, a block and a steal. over 10 minutes on the court. He shot 4 of 7 from the floor and 1 of 3 from beyond the arc.
"Hopefully we get him back for the first round for the NCAA Tournament. Shoot, we were up one when he went out. We got outscored 63-40 after that. That wasn't all him, but we were ahead in the game until he went out. So, I thought with the guys we had in the second half we still should have been able to stay in the game and make a run at trying to get the win without him. But obviously its a lot tougher without him, especially the way he was playing to start the game out."
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.
Alabama will find out its postseason fate Sunday during the NCAA Tournament selection show. The broadcast is set to start at 5. p.m. CT on CBS.