WATCH: Alabama guard Grant Nelson's "Crimson Crane" celebration infuriates Bruce Pearl

Alabama’s trip to Auburn was expected to be an intense game, but Grant Nelson and Bruce Pearl cranked it up a notch. In the first half of Saturday’s Crimson Tide 93-91 overtime win, Nelson dunked over the Tigers’ Dylan Cardwell and struck the 'Crimson Crane' pose.

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl took exception to that and called for the officials to call a technical for taunting the Crimson Tide’s forward. The coach appeared to say, “That’s taunting,” while talking to the referees.

This is not the first time an Alabama player celebrated with the pose. In fact, it is known in Tuscaloosa as the “Crimson Crane” and it was first used by wide receivers Jameson Williams and John Metchie in 2021.

The celebration became popular among the in-state rivals. The Auburn gymnastics and men’s basketball teams did it after victories over Alabama in 2022.

After the game, Grant Nelson said it wasn’t a planned celebration, but it just popped at the moment. Nelson finished the game with 23 points, eight rebounds and a block.

The Crimson Tide won an overtime thriller with Mark Sears hitting a floater at the buzzer in the first overtime. Both teams are still battling for position in the NCAA Tournament and should receive consideration for a No.1 seed with a strong conference tournament showing next week.

Bruce Pearl sounds off on Baker-Mazara’s ejection

Another important moment in Auburn’s loss to Alabama was Chad Baker-Mazara’s ejection. The guard was ejected after throwing an elbow at the Crimson Tide’s Chris Youngblood midway through the second half of the game.

Head coach Bruce Pearl was blunt in saying Baker-Mazara can’t react that way after taking contact, especially after he had already been tossed in a game against Yale for a similar action in last year’s NCAA Tournament.

"This is his second time having it, and obviously we're not as good a team without him. He takes a lot of contact. He gets hit a lot, and he can't. If it was some sort of retaliation, he just can't retaliate," Bruce Pearl said.

The coach also said he hadn’t seen the play on video yet, but pleaded for refs to call the first foul to prevent similar situations from escalating.