Alabama basketball’s Grant Nelson might not play against Robert Morris in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. When the forward went out against Florida, it led to a second-half disaster for UA in the SEC Tournament semifinal.

Even without him, the Crimson Tide will be favored against 15-seeded Robert Morris. Speaking to reporters Thursday in Cleveland, Colonial forward Alvaro Folguerias said his team would try to make Alabama miss Nelson should he be unable to play.”

“Obviously Alabama is a great team, so if we’re back at forward, he’s going to come with more energy and try to play his role and try to increase his role on the team,” Folguerias said. “We’ve got to be focused on what we do, and personally if they’re saving Nelson for the second round, we’ve got to make sure that they suffer without him, and that’s our job.”

Robert Morris coach Andrew Toole said his team is prepping as if Nelson will play on Friday. Nelson told reporters in the locker room that he would be a game-time decision for the matchup at Rocket Arena.

Toole said during his press conference that he would “be surprised” if the Crimson Tide star doesn’t at least attempt to play.

“Obviously, we know how good a player he is,” Toole said. “As much as (Mark) Sears is probably the overall playmaker, Grant Nelson, as a front court guy, is such a dynamic playmaker, as well, whether it’s scoring, drawing the defense, making tough shots from the perimeter, timely shots from the perimeter. When he’s out there with Sears, there’s a lot of options they have to be able to create an advantage for their team.”

Last year, Nelson was a key to Alabama’s first-ever Final Four run. He starred in the Crimson Tide’s upset Sweet Sixteen win over North Carolina.

This season, he was playing well leading up to the injury, helping the Tide keep the game close against No. 1-seed Florida before he was hurt.

“Just diving into the film, obviously he’s an unbelievable player, a great talent for Alabama,” Robert Morris’ Amarion Dickerson said. “But we’ve still got to focus on — we’re planning on if he’s playing, but we’re also planning on if he’s not playing we still have to focus on what we need to do as far as the details and figuring out how to win a game.”

Alabama and Robert Morris are scheduled to tip off at 11:40 a.m. CT on Friday. The game will be aired on TruTV.

The winner of Friday’s game will face either Vanderbilt or Saint Mary’s on Sunday.