Nate Oats knew Herb Jones had a lot of rebounds.

He just didn’t realize it was that many.

Until getting an update from a member of his coaching staff near the midpoint of the second half, at a time when there were still more than 10 minutes remaining in that game against LSU.

“All of a sudden, we got late in the game and one of my assistants said, ‘Herb’s got 13, 14 rebounds’ (during) one of those media timeouts,” Oats shared. “I said, ‘What!?!’”

It was part of a gritty and memorable performance from Jones, whose rebounding, defense and one-handed free throws have helped Alabama remain in contention for a spot in the NCAA tournament.

And he’s doing it all while wearing that restrictive cast to protect his injured wrist.

And less than three weeks after undergoing surgery.

“I think that athletes who attack their rehab the way he does generally get good results,” Crimson Tide athletic trainer Clarke Holter said. “… He has helped himself out due to his work ethic for sure.”

Jones got the information about his wrist the day after Alabama’s loss to LSU Jan. 29, the deflating news that further testing had revealed a small fracture in the left wrist of the left-handed Jones.

“I thought I was done for the season,” Jones said. “It was hurting me pretty bad during the game, but then my adrenaline was flowing so much that I just told them to tape it up and got back out there. But yeah, when they told me I fractured it, I immediately thought I was done.”

Nope.

Doctors told Jones after the Feb. 1 surgery that he would probably miss about three weeks.

Ultimately, he didn’t even miss two.

The screw that was inserted during the surgery fixated the bone, healed the fracture and essentially serves as an internal cast. So after five or six days in a hard cast, it was all about the junior forward getting back to a point where he and the team felt like he could return to action.

That didn’t take long.

Wearing the cast that Holter got approved by the SEC, Jones played seven minutes during the Tide’s overtime loss to Auburn last Wednesday before starting and contributing six points, a career-high 17 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, a steal and those two late one-handed free throws during the much-needed win over LSU on Saturday.

With the free throws, Oats was hoping Jones would simply make just one of the two.

Instead, Jones made both, pushing Alabama’s lead to four with one minute and 39 seconds remaining in the game.

“A lot of times, I won’t watch the game (video) with any sound on because the announcers tend to distract you from what you’re supposed to be looking at as a coach,” Oats said. “But I turned the sound up on some of that (with Herb) to hear the crowd and … to go back to a spot in the game where you get goosebumps and you’re thinking about how great it was, especially those last few minutes. The free throws were the big thing to me. But the crowd recognized how valuable he was to us with just how they cheered for some of his plays there late in the game.”

The hope, according to Holter, is for Jones to be able to transition to a smaller and less restrictive cast at some point next week.

For now, Jones is continuing to work on being as effective as possible with that right hand.

After finishing with class Monday night, Jones got in for a rehab session with Holter from 6:30 until about 8 p.m. After that, Jones was in the gym.

Continuing to do right-hand skill work.

Continuing to practice passing, finishing and ball-handling with that right hand.

And probably continuing to work on those one-handed free throws, too.

“I kind of see it as a blessing to be honest,” Jones said. “I needed to use my right hand more anyway. So doing everything with my right hand is going to help me out more on the court.”

Matt Zenitz is an Alabama and Auburn reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mzenitz.