Micah Handlogten suffers gruesome injury in SEC Tournament championship game

Micah Handlogten suffered a devastating injury in the opening minutes of the SEC Tournament title game against Auburn on Sunday afternoon.

Handlogten appeared to break his left leg after he jumped for a rebound and landed awkwardly early in the game. Florida later confirmed that he suffered a lower-leg fracture on the play.

After receiving medical attention for several minutes, Handlogten was loaded onto a stretcher and carted off the floor. Here’s video of the moment he shared with his Florida teammates after being carted off:

The entire #Gators team comes to see Micah Handlogten as he’s carted off the court. pic.twitter.com/rBPKB1uNJ3

— Zach Abolverdi (@ZachAbolverdi) March 17, 2024

Handlogten is a big loss for a Florida team that is hoping to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. He’s started 32 games this season at center for the Gators and is the team’s best rebounder on a per-possession basis. He entered this game averaging 20 rebounds per 100 possessions on the year.

He was also a big contributor for the Gators on the defensive end of the floor. He averaged 0.9 blocks and 0.6 steals per game in 19.5 minutes per contest this season.

With Handlogten out, look for Florida to give more minutes to reserves Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh. Tyrese Samuel may also be asked to do more on the boards as well during the NCAA Tournament than he otherwise would have.

Florida will learn its placement in the NCAA Tournament bracket at 6 p.m. ET.