Alabama basketball head coach Nate Oats was optimistic that Grant Nelson will return in time for the NCAA Tournament.

“He got the knee injury,” Oats said after losing to Florida in the SEC Tournament Saturday. “I’m not exactly sure what it is. I don’t think it’s anything with an ACL or anything like that. Got evaluated by the team doctor at halftime. Let us know in the second half he wasn’t going to be able to go. Hopefully we get him back for first round in the NCAA Tournament.”

Nelson played well early in the game, scoring nine points for the Crimson Tide, which kept things close in the first half. He checked out and did not return with 3:40 remaining in the half, after which point, Alabama fell apart, losing 104-82 in the semifinal round of the tournament.

The forward has a few days to heal before the NCAA Tournament begins. However, if he’s unable to go, Alabama will have to do better than it did Saturday if there’s any chance it replicates its Final Four run from last year.

“I think the guys coming off the bench, we could do a better job with stepping up,” Mo Dioubate said in Alabama’s locker room after the loss Saturday. “Grant being out, we just try to all fill his shoes even more. I think everyone’s just got to step up, honestly. We gotta bring the big boy drawers. This the time. This the time, man. This our time now.

“So I gotta step up. Everyone else coming off the bench, the starters gotta step up. And we all know what we’ve gotta do, so we’re gonna do that.”

Shortly after Nelson left the game, Dioubate made a layup with 2:27 left in the half that put Alabama up by one point. It was the last time the Crimson Tide would lead.

Without the fifth-year senior from Devil’s Lake, N.D., Alabama got crushed in the second half. The Tide had no answer for the Gators on defense, and struggled mightily in transition.

“We were right in the game till he went out,” Oats said. “So, I thought with the guys we had in the second half, we still should have been able to stay in the game, make a run, try to get the win without him. Obviously a lot tougher without him, especially the way he was playing to start the game out.”

Without Nelson in the game, Jarin Stevenson was among those who saw extra minutes for the Tide. Stevenson finished with 10 points, but went 0-for-6 from the field in the 18 minutes he played after halftime.

The sophomore forward agreed with Dioubate’s assertion that others, including himself, needed to step up in Nelson’s absence.

“Grant’s a big part of this team,” Stevenson said. “And yeah, I feel like we just got beat to 50/50 balls. They got a lot of offensive rebounds. And yeah, we just gotta be better.”

Alabama will learn its postseason fate Sunday. The NCAA Tournament selection show is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. CT Sunday and will be aired on CBS.