Florida Gators 7-footer to return from injury, two more bigs now OUT against South Carolina

South Carolina basketball will travel to Gainesville for a Saturday night contest against the Florida Gators. The Gamecocks will be looking for their first SEC victory and some revenge from a one-point loss to the top-5 Gators earlier this season.

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When the SEC rivals take the court at the O’Connell Center, Florida’s team will look a little different. During Florida’s media availability on Friday, 7’1″ center Micah Handlogten revealed to reporters that he plans to return to game action this weekend. The Gators big man hasn’t played the entire season following a broken leg suffered during the 2023-2024 campaign.

Before his injury last year, Handlogten was a starter for Florida. He averaged about 20 minutes per game and contributed 5.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and one block per game. With his return, Handlogten’s role remains unknown, though, other injury issues could push him into an immediate starting position. In the long run, incorporating Handlogten into an already-crowded Florida Gators post rotation could prove to be a challenge for head coach Todd Golden. However, having an abundance of talented players is a “problem” many coaches would love to have.

Starting guard Alijah Martin hasn’t played in nearly two weeks, either. Martin was scheduled to return from a minor hip injury this week when the Gators played Mississippi State. Instead, he remained listed as “out” on the SEC-mandated availability report. His status for Saturday’s game now is “questionable.”

According to Coach Golden, starting post player Alex Condon also will miss the game with an ankle issue. Sam Alexis, another big man, won’t play, either.

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South Carolina and Florida will tip off at 8:30 on Saturday night. SEC Network will broadcast the contest, while the ESPN app will stream it.

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