Grant Nelson dishes on how Alabama battled back in second half for 85-76 win over Georgia

The Alabama Crimson Tide found themselves in a deep hole for much of their game on Wednesday night against the Georgia Bulldogs. They trailed 41-27 at halftime, but outscored the Bulldogs 58-35 in the second half, to pull away for the 85-76 comeback victory.

After the game, Crimson Tide forward Grant Nelson took time to speak with the SEC Network broadcast crew on the floor in Athens, Georgia. With his team getting whipped on boards and trailing by 14 at half, Nelson said head coach Nate Oats told the Tide his players to quit being so soft.

“He told us to quit being soft,” Nelson began. “They were up like 28-5 on the rebounds, I think. I mean, I had one at the half. A couple of guys had two. It was bad. So, we came out. We did what we had to do. Got scoring, got some more rebounds, hit some threes. It all fell together.”

Nelson revealed that he’s back to 100 percent health after dealing with a knee injury that’s been bothering him the past few months. “I think South Alabama, I had a little knee injury and just bumped knees with someone, and it flared up. So, I mean, I’m 100 percent now. It feels good to be out there and be able to move like I used to.”

Alabama had a number of players spark the comeback

Nelson was clearly back to his old self. He poured in 20 points, including two massive threes in the final two minutes to put the game on ice. Nelson stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points, two blocks, and one steal in 29 minutes of work. He drilled 8 of 11 field goal attempts, including two of his four shots from beyond-the-arc.

Nelson provided the nail in the coffin in the final minutes, but Mark Sears was unquestionably the man that carried Alabama in the second half. Fueled by the disrespect he’s received in the national media this week, Sears took it out on Georgia in the second half. He erupted for 19 of his 23 points in the second half, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 4:09 remaining. Sears also drilled two free throws to extend the Crimson Tide’s lead to five points down the stretch.

Georgia led Alabama by as many as 16 points in the first half, but couldn’t stop the Tide’s second-half comeback fueled by Sears, Grant Nelson, and Rylen Griffen. Griffen drilled a three in the second half to tie the game for the first time at 64-64. He finished with 12 points for the game.