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Alabama begins its push to reach its second straight Final Four as it prepares to face Robert Morris in a first-round game of the East Region of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon at Cleveland.

The Crimson Tide (25-8), who drew a No. 2 seed in the region following a loss to Florida in the SEC tournament semifinals last week, are dealing with an injury to 6-foot-11 star forward Grant Nelson ahead of their matchup with the 15th-seeded Colonials (26-8).

The winner will take on No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s or No. 10 seed Vanderbilt in the second round on Sunday.

Nelson, Alabama’s second-leading scorer at 11.4 points per game and top rebounder (7.6 rpg), has been nursing a left knee injury since that 104-82 loss to the Gators. Tide coach Nate Oats said the senior is questionable for the team’s tournament opener.

“We need to get him healthy. Not sure he will be ready by Friday,” Oats said. “We’re hoping at a minimum he’ll be ready by Sunday with the possibility of maybe Friday. I thought he played really well. We dodged one. It wasn’t anything too serious with his knee but for sure will be questionable for that first game Friday.”

Alabama has lost three of its past five games, including two against Florida and one against Tennessee.

The Crimson Tide’s offense continues to thrive, though, as they lead the nation in scoring, averaging 91.1 points per game.

The Tide is shooting 48.3 percent overall from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc, which contributes to their 9.7 ppg margin of victory.

Robert Morris is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 after winning the Horizon League tournament championship, finishing the season on a 10-game winning streak.

This will be the Colonials’ ninth Tournament appearance. Robert Morris beat North Florida in a First Four matchup in 2015 before losing in the first round to top-seeded Duke. But in 2010, the Colonials nearly shocked Villanova in another 2 vs. 15 matchup before losing in overtime. This will be the fourth time Robert Morris competes as a No. 15 seed and has never made it past the first round.

Robert Morris coach Andy Toole mentioned his familiarity with Oats’ coaching style from Oats’ time at the helm of Buffalo. Toole acknowledged the major challenge that awaits his squad will be trying to slow Alabama down with or without Nelson.

Even if Nelson can’t play, the Tide will have a notable size advantage against the Colonials.

Alabama is nearly an inch taller than Robert Morris on average as the Colonials’ tallest player is 6-9 Alvaro Folgueiras, who shoots a team-leading 42.3 percent from 3-point range while scoring 14.1 ppg. Kam Woods is the team’s leading scorer (15.1) and assist man (5.1), while Folgueiras posts a team-best 9.1 rebounds per game.

“Obviously Alabama has had one of the best seasons in college basketball, a Final Four team last year,” Toole said. “A dynamic team. They know we’ve got a lot of work to do between now and Friday. Across the board, they’re gonna be bigger, faster, potentially stronger, more talented. We gotta figure out a way to do it as a team.”

–Field Level Media