Alabama basketball just couldn’t figure out how to tie the game, much less take the lead.
No matter what the Crimson Tide strung together, no matter how close it drew, it fell short of snatching away Arkansas’ advantage. Anytime Alabama moved within three, the Razorbacks scored some more. Even when the Crimson Tide drew within two or even one in the second half, it just couldn’t find away to stop trailing. Something always got in the way.
Then Latrell Wrightsell Jr. changed that trend when it mattered most.
With 21 seconds left in regulation, Wrightsell drained a triple. That tied the game for the first time since it started, forcing overtime.
“I didn’t realize it was that big of a shot in the moment,” Wrightsell Jr. said.
Oh but the crowd did. Fists pumped. Arms raised. Nate Oats crouched and clapped.
Then in overtime, Alabama beat Arkansas 92-88 on Saturday at Coleman Coliseum to close out the regular season and secure a double bye in the SEC Tournament. Wrightsell, who also made a 3-pointer with 2:32 left, finished with 20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and only one turnover over 39 minutes.
This game made it clear: Wrightsell is back, and at the perfect time. He might be the exact hero Alabama needs to prevent a quick postseason exit.
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Otherwise, the past few games have not inspired much confidence the Crimson Tide is poised for a run in the SEC Tournament or NCAA Tournament. Alabama has had some tough games, but the Crimson Tide also hasn’t been playing its best basketball. It certainly hasn’t been trending in the right direction the past two weeks.
It’s no coincidence some stumbles have happened while Wrightsell was mostly out of the lineup; He missed four games and barely played against Florida as he was returning from a head injury.
“We need him in a bad way,” Oats said. “I feel like if we would have had him the games he was out, we definitely wouldn’t have lost some of the ones we did. We would have a league championship if he hadn’t gone down. That’s some of the adversity we’ve got to play through. We didn’t win a league championship.”
But an SEC Tournament championship remains on the table. Alabama won’t have to play until Friday, so it will take only three wins if the Crimson Tide wants to hoist the trophy in Nashville next Sunday. Then, the NCAA Tournament will present an opportunity for Alabama to also chase a championship as likely a top-four seed.
The problem is, Alabama hasn’t looked as sharp over the past two weeks. The Crimson Tide’s offense has been inconsistent at best after it had been elite all season long. The defense has seen some improvements at times, but it’s still not good enough to win games if the offense is sputtering.
Neither the offense nor the defense is as good without Wrightsell. For offense, there’s not a more efficient offensive player in the conference this season. His offensive rating of 136.3 is the best in the SEC and the fifth-best in the country as of Saturday afternoon, per KenPom. Wrightsell also makes 3-pointers at a high clip. His 44.5% percentage ranks 42nd nationally and sixth in the SEC. He also hasn’t missed a free-throw all season, and that’s the most efficient shot a player can make.
“I don’t know who’s 100% playing as many minutes as he does,” Oats said.
Wrightsell can’t do it alone, but Alabama also can’t do it without him. That much was clear the past few weeks.
Had Wrightsell continued to miss time, there would be serious concern for the Crimson Tide’s chances of winning in the postseason. He’s back, though. Saturday made that clear, and that’s a game when Wrightsell was even “a bit out of shape,” he said. He wasn’t going to come back from the injury and immediately play at the level he played before. But now, after a little over a game in action, Wrightsell is ramping back up. As a result, Alabama has a chance to do some damage in March. At least a better chance than it would without him.
The link that has been missing in some struggles of late is no longer missing. And it might just be enough to save the Crimson Tide from an early season end.
“We really need him,” Sam Walters said, “to help us make a deep run in March.”
Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men’s basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
First appeared on www.tuscaloosanews.com