Alabama basketball is hopeful to get Grant Nelson back for its run in the NCAA Tournament. Nelson injured his left ankle during Alabama’s 104-82 loss to Florida in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament on Saturday. After Alabama earned a No. 2 seed in the tournament on Sunday, head coach Nate Oats provided an update on his injured forward.

"We're hoping to get Grant back," Oats said. "He's going to see the knee specialist tomorrow morning and get a better idea of a timeframe on getting him back. But he is walking today. It's swollen, but hopefully, he'll be back by the first round."

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 limped off the court during the under-4 media timeout of the first half of Saturday’s game against Florida. 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.

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.