Alabama men’s basketball is set to face South Carolina Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in a must-win game for both teams. The Crimson Tide (15-13, 7-8) and the Gamecocks (17-11, 9-6) are trying to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive, as both are currently on the outside looking in, according to most bracketologists.

Here’s what you need to know heading into the matchup:

John Petty injury status

On Tuesday night against Mississippi State, junior John Petty Jr. left the game after falling awkwardly on his right arm while diving on the floor. He was later ruled out for the rest of the game with a right elbow injury, but he was able to return to the bench with a sleeve on his arm. Coach Nate Oats said Friday afternoon that Petty has a hyperextended elbow and a slight ligament. The injury makes him “highly unlikely” to play against the Gamecocks.

“I haven’t had this many injuries in my 23 years of coaching,” Oats said. “We just gotta play throughout it and play with who we got and figure out how to get a win with who we got.”

With Petty out for the foreseeable future, the Crimson Tide will lose its leading rebounder and, recently, most consistent shooter. After a five-game period between late January and early February where he was shooting a mere 23% from the 3-point line, Petty shot 17-of-36 from 3 in the five games prior to him getting injured.

Sophomore Kira Lewis Jr. and freshman Jaden Shackelford have both been playing as well as they have all season as of late, boding well for the Petty-less Crimson Tide. In the past six games, Lewis is averaging 22.7 points and 7.0 assists while shooting 47.5% from beyond the arc and 50.7 from the field. Meanwhile, Shackelford has been making his case to make the All-SEC Freshman team by averaging 22.6 points on 45.2% shooting and 5.0 rebounds in his last five games.

“[Shackelford] is playing his best basketball that he has all year recently,” Oats said. “That’s what you want. You want your guys playing their best basketball come late February and March. I think he has made great improvements.”

Crimson Tide’s NCAA Tournament hopes dwindling

Alabama missed out on its last opportunity of the regular season for a Quadrant 1 win, according to the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), by losing to Mississippi State 80-73 on Tuesday night. In its next three games, it will play two Quadrant 2 games (South Carolina, at Missouri) and one Quadrant 3 games (Vanderbilt).

A loss in any of its remaining regular season games will likely end the Crimson Tide’s NCAA Tournament chances, barring a SEC Tournament run to win the championship.

“We just gotta keep fighting,” Shackelford said. “…We know how much potential we have in the locker room, so we just gotta fight through the adversity.”

The Crimson Tide has a favorable NET ranking, as it is currently ranked No. 39. However, last season the college basketball world realized that the NET ranking was not the be-all-end-all when Selection Sunday arrived.

North Carolina State was ranked No. 33 in the final NET rankings but did not make the NCAA Tournament while St. John’s, ranked No. 73, received an at-large bid. With the parity throughout college basketball this season, the uncertainty will be even greater in terms of who will receive an at-large bid.

“Their mentality is pretty good,” Oats said. “At this stage, we just need to control what we can control and try to come out with a win. And then another win and another win. Every game let’s give our best effort and see where it takes us.”

Scouting South Carolina (3-point defense, Kotsar, Lawson)

South Carolina comes into Saturday’s game as the one of the top defending teams in the nation by allowing opponents to shoot 39% from the field and 29.4% from beyond the arc, which both rank in the top 25 nationally.

With Alabama’s record being 8-11 when shooting under 40% from the 3-point line, it will need to do a better job of creating open shots on the perimeter, which was a problem against Mississippi State.

“When they are closing out and running our guys off the 3-point line, Petty can still get those shots up,” Oats said after the game. “I thought our guys drove it sometimes when Petty would have shot it.”