NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Alabama was unable to keep up its first-half momentum in a 104-82 loss to No. 4 Florida on Saturday. The wheels came off for the Crimson Tide in the second half after a strong opening 20 minutes and cost Alabama the chance to compete for an SEC Tournament title.

The game was flipped on its head after fifth-year forward Grant Nelson was knocked out of the game with a left leg injury. The Gators were able to serge on the glass and in transition, while Alabama was left with few options offensively with some lackluster guard play that was unable to get going against arguably the best team in the country.

Here are three takeaways from Alabama’s matchup against Florida.

The glass was a major factor in Florida’s win over Alabama inside Coleman Coliseum earlier this month. The Gators won the rebounding battle in that game and did so again Saturday afternoon inside Bridgstone Arena.

The complexion of the rebounding battle and the game changed when Alabama lost its top rebounder in Nelson, in the first half. Nelson was deemed questionable to return but never came back in for the Tide and Florida was able to pull away on the glass and go on a 15-2 run that it never looked back from.

Florida bested Alabama 43-38 on the boards and the margin felt wider than the box score showed. The Gators turned 13 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points and grabbed plenty of defensive rebounds to get going in transition. The Tide was outscored 63-40 after Nelson’s injury. The forward was Alabama’s best presence offensively and in the paint early, and the Tide couldn’t bounce back without him.

"We were ahead in the game until he went out, Alabama coach Nate Oats said after the game. "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."

Alabama hung around with Florida in the opening eight minutes of the game. On the possession before the under-12-minute media timeout, Alabama grabbed two O-boards on one possession off of missed 3s. It's rare that Alabama misses when it's given multiple cracks from beyond the arc, and Aden Holloway made the Gators pay with a make after back-to-back rebounds by Mouhamed Dioubate. The sophomore forward was the only one making a major impact on the glass and racked up 12 rebounds.

The Tide played with better effort in the trenches than in its loss to Florida in Coleman, and was able to make the game on the glass look a lot closer than it felt after Nelson went down. But without the fifth-year forward, it just wasn’t enough against a lengthy Gators outfit that hounds the glass relentlessly and cost Alabama a chance at an SEC title game appearance.

Alabama came with a better game plan for Florida star Alex Condon on Saturday. The forward went for 27 points and 10 rebounds against the Tide in Coleman Coliseum. It was a different story in the SEC Tournament, as Alabama held Condon to just eight points and four rebounds.

However, Florida is difficult to beat, even if Condon is having an off night. For as much as the forward was limited offensively, guard Walter Clayton Jr. stepped up and finished with 22 points. He burned Alabama from 3 whenever Tide defenders were late going over a screen or a step behind when chasing him off-ball.

The Gators other starting guards Alijah Martin and Will Richard didn’t let Clayton have all the fun. Martin threw down a dunk in the second half and had plenty to say to Chris Youngblood after the fact on the way to 16 points. Richard was a mid-range maestro all game, and matched his backcourt partner with 16 of his own.

Alabama’s ability to limit Condon kept the Tide in the game in the first half. But Florida booked its place in the SEC Tournament and showed why it could make an argument to be the best team in the country with its guard play. The Gators are an offensive juggernaut and Alabama wasn’t able to slow them down enough, giving up a whopping 1.54 points per possession in the second half.

As Florida continued scoring, Alabama’s offense fell by the wayside in the second half. Empty trips in the final 20 minutes not only coast Alabama points but also allowed the Gators to run out in transition and get easy offense off of missed shots.

The Tide shot just 11 of 32 from the field in the second half. Possessions were long, and what open looks Alabama could muster didn’t fall as Florida kept up steady ball pressure and executed switches well to funnel guards into traffic and had four blocks in the second half. Youngblood was Alabama’s only form of life, scoring 11 of his 14 points in the final period.

The Tide’s backcourt as a whole was unable to match the effort of Florida’s. After an outstanding game against Kentucky, freshman guard Labaon Philon never got going, finishing with just three points on 1 of 9 shooting.

“Particularly in the second half, Labaron wasn't great on both sides of the ball for large parts of the game after he had an unbelievable game yesterday," Oats said. "I don't know if it's just freshman frustration, but we need to be better. We're going to rely on him to win games in the NCAA tournament."

Philon wasn't alone. Mark Sears managed just nine points and shot 3 of 10 from the floor, and Holloway was also unable to get into double figures. While it wasn’t a turnover fest for Alabama was out of rhythm moving the ball, getting just four assists compared to five turnovers in the second half. The Tide managed just 1.05 points per possession, compared to 1.18 in the first half.

“I think we got to buy into just being tough on the defensive end and letting the offense take care of itself," Oats said. "We had too many turnovers, blocked shots at the rim, poor rim decisions, in my opinion. I thought Mark was great moving the ball in the first half. I thought he got in. We didn't particularly hit all the shots. I thought he made a lot of really good reads in the first half. For whatever reason, we just as a group, the ball wasn't moving like it needed to in the second half."

In the opening 20 minutes, Alabama’s pick-and-roll actions were flowing. It also made 3 of its first 4 attempts from 3-point range in a back-and-forth affair. Jarin Stevenson appeared to be following up on a strong game against Kentucky with nine points in the first half, but managed just one in the second. Only Dioubate and Clifford Omoruyi were able to sustain their play from the Kentucky game. Dioubate added 12 points to his 12 boards and Omoruyi matched his tally with 12 points, but only scored four in the second half.

Florida made the necessary adjustments defensively and took full advantage of a thin Alabama frontcourt with Nelson out of the game. Alabama simply couldn't get enough in the paint, and a lackluster performance from its guards came at the worst time for the Tide.

“We didn't finish well at the rim," Oats said. "They shot 64% at the rim, we were only 52% at the rim. Good shot blocking. We didn't make great reads. They've done a good job. I don't think we'll see them till maybe an Elite Eight or Final Four game, depending on where we all get placed.

“They're good. They've had our number here for the last couple weeks. If we are fortunate enough to get a third crack, we're going to have to do some things different, that's for sure.”