BamaCentral Courtside: Alabama 98, Florida 93

The Coleman Coliseum crowd was treated to free basketball in Wednesday night's Alabama win over the Florida Gators.

The No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide didn't play very well defensively in Wednesday, shot far below its season average from 3-point range but still found a way to keep its SEC home winning streak alive against the No. 24 Florida Gators. 

Alabama converted a season low home shooting percentage, making 25-percent from beyond the arc against the Florida Gators, but made six of its final 14 attempts in the game to complete its second half comeback and close out the game 98-93 in overtime.

The Crimson Tide knew its hands would be full with the conference's second best rebounding team, but despite being outmatched on the glass Alabama ended up out rebounding the Gators 54-44 on the night and claiming the edge on the offensive end 21-17. 

It was freshman Sam Walters who significantly contributed to the strong shooting effort down the stretch and on the glass as he arguably played his best game to date in an Alabama uniform. Walters made four of the Tide's final six makes from deep and finished with 14 points with three rebounds and two blocks.

The Crimson Tide also leaned heavily on veteran transfers Aaron Estrada and Grant Nelson as they both cleared the 20-point mark. Nelson's 22 points were obvious, but his eight rebounds and six blocks were invaluable considering the size advantage Florida brought into Coleman on Wednesday. 

The Crimson Tide has just five conference games remaining and will head to Lexington to take on No. 17 Kentucky on Saturday at 3 p.m.

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