Alabama's Nate Oats gives important Grant Nelson injury update after Florida loss
03/15/2025 07:38 PM
The No. 3 seed Alabama Crimson Tide’s dream of winning the 2025 SEC Tournament ended on Saturday, as Nate Oats and his team got eliminated from the tourney by the No. 2 Florida Gators via a 104-82 loss.
Alabama basketball trailed the Gators by only two points after 20 minutes of action, but the Crimson Tide were simply outplayed by Florida in the second half, resulting in the lopsided final score.
The contest could have been much more competitive in the second had Alabama star power forward Grant Nelson been available in the final 20 minutes of the contest, but he was not able to be on the court after suffering an apparent lower-body injury near the end of the first half.
Alabama basketball head coach Nate Oats could only hope that Nelson’s injury is not serious enough to force the player into missing the action in the Big Dance.
“Hopefully we get him back for the first round of the NCAA tournament,” Oats said following the game, per Pete Thamel of ESPN.
Grant Nelson’s second-half absence hurt Alabama in loss to Florida
Nelson was leading Alabama with nine points on 4-for-7 shooting from the floor at the time he exited the contest with under four minutes left in the first half. His absence in the second half clearly affected the Crimson Tide on the court. Florida’s offense hummed in the second half, as Alabama basketball missed the rebounding and rim protection of Nelson, who entered the contest with season averages of 11.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per contest while posting a 52.7 percent shooting from the floor.
Florida finished the contest with nine more attempts from the floor than Alabama (37-28) and with a 43-38 advantage on the glass. The Gators seemed comfortable attacking Alabama’s Nelson-less defense, shooting 51.4 percent in the entire game.
Senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. paced Florida with 22 points while Will Richards and Alijah Martin had 16 points apiece, as the Gators move on to the SEC Tournament championship game, where they will meet the No. 4 seed Tennessee Volunteers. The Volts pulled off a 70-65 upset win over the No. 1 seed Auburn Tigers on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide enjoyed byes in the first two rounds of the SEC Tournament before crushing the No. 6 seed Kentucky Wildcats in the quarterfinal round on Friday to the tune of a 99-70 score.
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