Nick Jacobs has a right hand. He just chooses not to use it on the offensive end of the court.

The junior forward from Atlanta, Ga., has been a spark off the bench for the Alabama men’s basketball team thanks to his efficiency in shooting with his left hand and the time he spent in the gym this offseason.

“Nick has always been a guy that has had a lot of confidence in his ability to score in and around the basket,” Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. “I think, obviously, he’s improved his conditioning; he’s improved his stamina; he’s improved his body, which has given him a little more lift in terms of his ability to create angles to go score. I think he’s just taking advantage of those opportunities because of the work that he’s put in.”

Jacobs is the third leading scorer for the Crimson Tide this season with an average of 11.5 points per game, trailing only guards Trevor Releford (17.3) and Retin Obasohan (14.7).

He has reeled off back-to-back team-high performances in Alabama’s latest games of the NIT Season Tip-Off, with 18 points against the Duke Blue Devils and a career-high 23 points versus the Drexel Dragons.

Jacobs kept Alabama alive in both contests by backing down defenders and scoring with his nearly patented left hook shot every time he was fed the ball in the low post.

He has averaged 20.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in the Crimson Tide’s last two games and is shooting a career-best 59 percent (31-of-53) from the floor this year.

“He made a decision at the end of the season that he was going to try to do what he needed to do physically to become the best player that he could become,” Grant said. “Our strength and conditioning coach Lou DeNeen did a great job with him and all our guys of challenging them mentally and physically to become the best that they can become.”

Fans can look back to this offseason to see how Jacobs transformed his body and his offensive production from last year.

He has slimmed down from a season ago, losing more than 30 pounds in the offseason. He is now 6 feet 8 inches and 245 pounds after getting to know DeNeen a little better over the summer.

“It was a tough summer for me,” Jacobs said.

But he was quick to praise DeNeen for pushing him through it.

“I give all the credit to the coaching staff,” Jacobs said. “They worked me day-in and day-out during the summer, getting my body right.”

Grant, however, disagreed, giving Jacobs the proper praise for his offseason conditioning.

“Nick’s being kind. He put the work in,” Grant said. “It was not myself and the coaching staff. He put the work in, the work on his body and to do the thing he needed to do. Certainly proud of the work he’s put in. Now, the challenge is … to put that work that he put in into use with the competition that we’re going to play against.”

However, Jacobs was not performing poorly before losing weight this offseason. In his first two years at The University of Alabama, Jacobs averaged 6.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in 68 appearances.

The former four-star recruit also posted double-digit performances in 12 of Alabama’s final 21 games last season.

But his teammates have noticed a change in his game in less than a year’s time.

“Obviously this offseason has been really big for him,” Obasohan said. “He’s just made a commitment to improve his body and just work on his game. The combination of those two things has really helped him a lot.”

Alabama is 3-3 on the season and will look to bounce back from consecutive losses when it hosts the North Florida Ospreys (5-4) Wednesday at Coleman Coliseum.

The Ospreys opened the season with an 8-point loss to the Florida Gators.

“They really shoot the ball well as a team,” Grant said. “They’ve got a variety of guys that they go to.”

Alabama owns a 2-0 record over North Florida, winning both contests by at least 20 points, and looks to remain undefeated against the Ospreys as the Crimson Tide returns to its home court.

Jacobs and his teammates said they want to avoid a three-game losing streak and not suffer another 1-5 December like they did in 2012.

“My whole goal this year is to just have a better season than we did last year,” Jacobs said. “We started off last year with that big slump in December, and our whole thing is to just turn the page on it.”

But Grant said Jacobs was able to mark another goal off his list thanks to his dedication to losing weight.

“He likes wearing tank tops now,” Grant said.