Rylan Griffen heads to locker room vs. Florida with apparent leg injury

Alabama is just a few minutes away from another loss on the road, with Florida pouring it on in the second half. Not much has gone their way on Tuesday night and the last thing Nate Oats needed was another injury. Unfortunately, the health of Rylan Griffen is going to be a big talking point in the postgame press conference.

In a fight for a loose ball, Griffen jumped in the air attempting to secure it. He ran into two Florida defenders and hit the ground hard. Griffen immediately grabbed his leg and went down in a ton of pain.

Trainers came onto the court and eventually, helped Griffen up and took him straight to the locker room. Not what Alabama needed at the under-four-minute timeout down nearly 20 points.

Outside of the injury, Oats could not believe a foul wasn’t called against Florida on the play. His assistants had to hold him back to avoid getting closer to the officials. Oats may have wanted to get a technical foul and eventually he did but it occurred during the ESPN TV timeout.

With the game late in the second half and Alabama down by a ton, it’s safe to assume Griffen will not return. He will finish with just three points on 1-4 shooting but did snag four rebounds and recorded a steal.

Griffen has been crucial for Alabama in his sophomore season. Not too many teams will 11.2 points per game place you as the fourth leading scorer but that’s where Griffen stands. And Alabama might struggle heavily on the defensive end but Oats has called Griffen the Crimson Tide’s best on-ball defender.

Alabama already had a key starter dealing with an injury, with Latrell Wrightsell having a head injury. Wrightstell got back into the lineup on Tuesday night early in the first half. However, once checking out, he has not been subbed back in.

Just one regular season game remains for Alabama before heading to Nashville for the SEC Tournament. Arkansas will come to Coleman Coliseum for the finale and it’s one the Crimson Tide will be desperate to win.

Wrightsell already getting game action proved he is healthy enough to get a few minutes. As for Griffen, Oats will surely provide more information during his postgame press conference. A crucial week is upcoming for Alabama and having those two guys healthy could prove to be critical.