Grant Nelson's recent struggles could help Kentucky flip the script in rematch

Grant Nelson played a starring role in Alabama’s win over Kentucky last month. The 6’11” mustachioed forward owned his matchup vs. an ailing Andrew Carr, scoring 25 points (7-13 FG, 9-10 FT) and grabbing 11 rebounds.

There’s some good news for Kentucky going into tomorrow’s rematch in Tuscaloosa. Not only is Carr’s back much better, as evidenced by Wednesday night’s performance vs. Vanderbilt, but Nelson is struggling a bit as of late. He had just 8 points and 3 rebounds in Alabama’s loss to Missouri on Wednesday. Against No. 1 Auburn in the game prior, he had a double-double, 12 points and 12 rebounds, but was 5-11 from the floor, 5-10 at the rim.

In Alabama’s last two games (both losses), Nelson is -20 in plus/minus efficiency, the worst on the Crimson Tide’s roster. Prior to the Auburn game, Nate Oats called out Nelson and fellow fifth-year senior Mark Sears for turning over the ball too often. Nelson is averaging 2.0 turnovers per game, Sears 2.8.

“We need Mark Sears and Grant Nelson to stop turning the ball over,” Oats said on Feb. 14. “That’s what needs to happen. We have two fifth-year seniors who have played over 100 basketball games who know how to take care of the ball and who have not taken care of the ball and we need them to.”

“If you look at the turnover rates between those two guys, they’re just way too high,” Oats continued. “We’ve got to quit trying to make home-run plays. We’ve got to quit over-driving. Gaps that aren’t there. We’ve got to get the ball out of our hands earlier. We’ve got to make the appropriate reads, whether it’s pick-and-roll or drive reads. Elbow catch reads with Grant. If those two guys can significantly reduce their turnovers, the team turnover rate will go down and look a lot more like we need it to look like.”

Nelson only turned the ball over once vs. Auburn and Missouri, but looked far from the player who dominated the Cats in Rupp. Thankfully, Carr looks far from the player who got dominated that night too. Carr filled up the stat sheet vs. Vanderbilt on Wednesday, finishing with 11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, and 1 steal in 21 minutes. He was 5-8 from the floor and 1-3 from three-point range.

Those numbers may not seem super flashy, but it was a significant step forward for the graduate forward, who has been battling back problems for almost two months. After going 1-4 from the floor vs. Alabama, Carr missed only the second game of his career at Vanderbilt, essentially living in the training room in hopes of getting his back spasms under control. After doing so, he’s eager for tomorrow’s rematch vs. Nelson.

“Just as a competitor, we’re looking forward to getting another shot at a team like that, for sure. Obviously, my matchup with Grant Nelson — he had a great game,” Carr said after the win over Vanderbilt. “I’m super excited to step up to that challenge and to be able to face him and be able to try and shut him down. We know how good of a game he had against us this year.”

Kentucky is the underdog in tomorrow’s game in Tuscaloosa. Without Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson, the Cats will have to be the best versions of themselves to pull off the upset; Carr winning the matchup vs. Nelson would certainly help.