Wrightsell the Key to Alabama’s Success

Mark Sears led the team in scoring once again, while Latrell Wrightsell was right on his heels. Alabama head coach Nate Oats said he wanted Wrightsell to play 30 minutes in the game. Wrightsell played 39 minutes due to the overtime period. He was vital to Alabama's success against Arkansas, and Oats knew it, "We needed him in a bad way. ... We'd have a league championship if he hadn't gone down."

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That's extremely high praise for Wrightsell, who missed games against Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, and Tennessee before playing in limited minutes in Gainesville in the Tide's loss there.

In his first game back to full speed, Wrightsell was a major contributor to Alabama's success, totaling 20 points on 8-12 shooting from the field and 4-8 from three-point range, including the shot that sent the game into overtime.

On his big-time shot, Wrightsell said he didn't realize how big it was when he took it, "I just came in and made the shot...I didn't realize it was that big of a shot at the time."

And what a shot it was.

Wrightsell said he is still working to get back into game shape after missing two weeks with an injury. Nate Oats echoed the sentiment, "He played almost 40 minutes, and he made some tough plays. You can tell he’s probably not quite in good enough shape to play 40 minutes, but he had to…I thought he was huge, and we need him in a bad way. Him scoring 20, we needed every one of those points tonight.”

His play can be the key for Alabama in the postseason. The Crimson Tide play at a higher level when he's in the rotation, and he takes the pressure off of Sears and Estrada. Alabama's offense was being heralded as 'historic' when Wrightsell was in the lineup. We'll see that offense back in action on Friday in Nashville at the SEC Tournament.