Alabama basketball couldn’t figure out how to tie the game, let alone take the lead.
No matter how the Crimson Tide strung together, no matter how close it came, it missed taking away Arkansas’ advantage. Whenever Alabama moved within three, the Razorbacks scored a few more. Even when the Crimson Tide got within two or one in the second half, they couldn’t stop from falling behind. Something or the other always came in between.
Then Latrell Wrightsell Jr. bucked the trend when it mattered most.
With 21 seconds left in regulation, Wrightsell missed a triple. This resulted in a tie due to overtime for the first time since the game started.
“I didn’t realize at the time it was such a big shot,” Wrightsell Jr. said.
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Oh, but the crowd did. Fists were raised. Raise your arms. Nate Oates bowed and clapped.
Then in overtime, Alabama defeated Arkansas 92–88 at Coleman Coliseum on Saturday to close out the regular season and clinch a double bye into 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 in 39 minutes.
This game made it clear: Rightsail is back, and at just the right time. He could be the exact hero Alabama needs to prevent an early postseason exit.
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Otherwise, the last few games haven’t instilled much confidence the Crimson Tide are ready to make a run at the SEC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament. Alabama has had some tough games, but the Crimson Tide also is not playing its best basketball. It has definitely not been going in the right direction for the last two weeks.
It’s no coincidence that some of the fumbles occurred when 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 desperately,” Oats said. “I feel like if we had included him in the games he was out in, we definitely wouldn’t have lost some of them. If he hadn’t lost we would have had a league championship. These are some adverse situations that we have to deal with. “We didn’t win any league championships.”
But an SEC Tournament championship remains on the table. Alabama doesn’t have to play until Friday, so the Crimson Tide will need just three wins if they want to hoist the trophy next Sunday in Nashville. Then, the NCAA Tournament will provide an opportunity for Alabama to potentially pursue a championship as a top four seed.
The problem is that Alabama hasn’t looked that sharp the last two weeks. The Crimson Tide’s offense has been inconsistent at best after being excellent throughout the season. The defense has seen some improvement at times, but it’s still not good enough to win games if the offense is playing poorly.
Without Rightsail neither attack nor defense is as good. As for the offense, there is no more efficient offensive player in the conference this season. His offensive rating of 136.3 as of Saturday afternoon is best in the SEC and fifth-best in the country, according to KenPom. Wrightsale also makes 3-pointers at a high clip. His 44.5% percentile rank is 42Ra Ranked nationally and sixth in the SEC. He has not missed a single free-throw all season and is the most effective shot ever made by a player.
“I don’t know who plays 100% for how many minutes,” Oats said.
Wrightsell can’t do it alone, but Alabama can’t do it without him either. This much became clear in the last few weeks.
If Wrightsell continues to miss time, there will be serious concerns for the Crimson Tide’s chances of winning in the postseason. However, he is back. Saturday made that clear, and it was a game when Wrightsell was “a little bit out of shape,” he said. He was not going to come back from injury and immediately play at the level he had played before. But now, after a bit of play, Rightsail is on the rise again. As a result, Alabama has a chance to make up some losses in March. At least we would have had a better chance without him.
The link that was missing in some conflicts of the past is not missing now. And that might be enough to save the Crimson Tide from an early season collapse.
“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 or follow him at [email protected] @_nikkelly OnX, the social media app formerly known as Twitter,
