Nate Oats updates two injured Alabama players after missing Mississippi State game

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Alabama basketball’s availability reports for the Mississippi State game featured two big surprises.

On the initial availability report on Monday night, forward Taylor Bol Bowen was listed as doubtful for the Tuesday night matchup. He was ruled out on the gameday report two hours before Tuesday’s tipoff, while forward Keitenn Bristow was added to the report and ruled out as well.

Following the Crimson Tide’s 97-82 road win, head coach Nate Oats updated the statuses of both players.

“Bristow’s got a left leg injury, I don’t know how long he’ll be out for,” Oats said. “Taylor’s got a left hand injury, he’s getting further evaluation tomorrow. Hoping maybe he can get a pad and play Saturday. If not Saturday, they’re thinking hopefully for sure after the week off.”

Bol Bowen had greatly improved his play over the past couple of games, recording his first double-double in an Alabama uniform during his last appearance against Texas on Saturday. He’s averaging 9.0 points and 5.6 rebounds this season. He missed two games previously this season with a back issue.

Bristow has been a rotational player for much of the year while battling an ankle injury of his own. He’s averaging 3.6 points and 4.0 rebounds this season, having made a couple of spot starts along the way.

Alabama will be back in action on Saturday on the road against Oklahoma (12 p.m. CT, SEC Network).

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