Nate Oats reveals Alabama likely without key frontcourt piece vs. South Carolina

An already thin Alabama frontcourt following the Charles Bediako loss in court sounds likely to be even thinner as the Crimson Tide takes on South Carolina in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night.

According to Nate Oats, junior forward Taylor Bol Bowen is still battling an injury and did not practice on Friday. Oats stated that Bol Bowen is likely to be questionable, or even doubtful, when Alabama releases its availability report later Friday night.

Taylor Bol Bowen's status is up in the air vs. South Carolina

Over the last four games, Bol Bowen has only been able to play a combined 24 minutes. He suffered an injury just two minutes into Alabama's loss to Florida, and then sat out the midweek bounce-back win over Texas A&M.

He got dinged again during Alabama's road win over Auburn and managed only seven minutes. He gutted out 15 minutes against Ole Miss on Wednesday, and corralled four rebounds and a blocked shot to go along with a late made three-pointer.

With Bediako no longer able to play, Bol Bowen was used as the Crimson Tide's primary backup five-man against the Rebels behind starter Aiden Sherrell. If he's unable to play against South Carolina, Alabama will have to play even smaller, or rely on Bucknell transfer Noah Williamson for more minutes.

After back-to-back DNPs, Williamson played five minutes on Wednesday in Oxford, but didn't make much of an impact.

Alabama is a significant favorite over South Carolina at home. The Crimson Tide opened as a 16.5-point favorite on FanDuel. The Gamecocks have lost five straight and come into this weekend's matchup just 2-9 in league play.

This is the type of game that Alabama should have little trouble winning without Bol Bowen, so allowing him extra time to rest ahead of Wednesday's pivotal home game against Arkansas makes sense.