Ahead of the third-ranked Florida Gators’ Saturday matchup against South Carolina, guard Alijah Martin has been cleared to play after dealing with a hip injury for the last two weeks.
Martin, who has missed the last two games with a hip pointer, is second on the team with 15.4 points while leading the Gators with 1.7 steals per game. He was not listed on the team’s availability report.
The former FAU transfer suffered his injury while diving for a loose ball in the first half in the team’s win over Vanderbilt on Feb. 4. Although he returned in the second half against the Commodores, finishing with eight points and four assists, he did not play in the team’s wins over No. 1 Auburn and Mississippi State.
Martin also recently began to deal with an abdomen issue but was “close to returning,” head coach Todd Golden told reporters Friday.
Despite Martin’s return, Florida will still be short-handed on Saturday.
The Gators will be without forward Sam Alexis and forward/center Alex Condon for Saturday’s game, Golden announced. Alexis’ reasoning for not playing wasn’t disclosed, and Condon is continuing to recover from a low ankle sprain suffered in Tuesday’s win over Mississippi State.
He is expected to miss the next one-to-two weeks, although Florida will see the return of center Micah Handlogten to help boost the Gators’ front court depth.
Handlogten had originally planned to medically redshirt after an ankle injury suffered last season before toying with the idea of returning in January. He originally elected to hold onto his medical redshirt before annoucing Friday he was returning.
Tip-off between the Gators and the Gamecocks inside Exactech Arena is at 8:30 p.m. with television coverage on SEC Network.
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