Alabama star guard Labaron Philon was listed on Alabama's last injury report heading into the LSU game on Saturday as "probable." He was able to play, but he was clearly limited. Philon played only 24 minutes in the Crimson Tide's 90-83 win over the Tigers, scoring a season-low eight points.
This came on the heels of Philon playing over 40 minutes in Alabama's double-overtime win over Arkansas, where he scored 35 points and dished out 7 assists while looking healthier than he had in weeks.
That game clearly took its toll on the sophomore.
Heading into Wednesday night's matchup against Mississippi State in Tuscaloosa, Philon's status is currently up in the air. He was officially listed as "questionable" on Alabama's availability report on Tuesday night.
Labaron Philon is questionable to play for Alabama vs. Mississippi State
This comes as little surprise if you read between the lines of recent comments made by Nate Oats. The Tide's head coach spent part of his radio show on Monday night and his press conference on Tuesday hyping up sophomore Jalil Bethea in a clear effort to pump the Miami transfer full of confidence in anticipation of extended minutes.
If Philon is unable to go, Alabama will likely start Aden Holloway and Latrell Wrightsell in the backcourt, but the Crimson Tide will miss Wrightsell's punch off the bench. That will mean Oats will have to rely on real minutes from Bethea, who has struggled to find a spot in the rotation.
Alabama should be able to handle the Bulldogs without Philon. As of Tuesday evening, the Crimson Tide remained a 15.5-point home favorite on FanDuel even in the aftermath of the Philon news.
It hasn't been a good year for Chris Jans's team, but Mississippi State can still be a tough out, particularly with star guard Josh Hubbard's ability to get buckets from anywhere on the court.
If Alabama can steal extra rest from Philon and still take care of business at home, it would be best-case scenario for Oats.
Alabama heads to Knoxville on Saturday for a massive road game against a physical Tennessee team. It'll need Philon to be 100% to have a chance to pull off a mild upset in Knoxville.