Alex Condon injury update: Pete Thamel reveals major news on Florida star vs. Texas Tech

Florida forward Alex Condon is expected to play and start for the Gators during Saturday’s Elite Eight matchup against Texas Tech, ESPN’s Pete Thamel revealed. Condon has been dealing with an ankle injury since Thursday’s Sweet 16 matchup.

He rolled his ankle during the first half of the Gators win over Maryland on Thursday night. Condon would miss a chunk of the matchup, but was able to return in the second half as Florida cruised to an 87-71 victory over the Terrapins.

Condone appeared to tweak his ankle while diving for a loose ball and didn’t put any weight on his right leg as he got helped to the bench in the first half. Once he got up, he immediately jumped up and down on his left leg as he got help toward the bench. He later headed back to the locker room.

He later underwent X-rays out of precaution, TBS’ Lauren Shehadi reported. He later came out of the locker room and was seen riding a stationary bike. In the time since, he’s been doing workouts to stay loose, although there wasn’t an update on the X-ray results. Condon later returned with just over 13 minutes left in the second half.

Condon did not practice for Florida on Saturday. However, Thamel reports this to be a precautionary measure taken by the Gators in preparation for the Elite Eight.

Keeping Condon on the court will be pivotal to the Gators’ efforts, as he has become an important piece to Florida’s success this year, helping the Gators to a No. 1 seed and an Elite Eight berth. He leads the Gators with 7.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, in addition to his 11.1 points per contest.

Condon previously suffered an ankle injury in February, just 30 seconds into a game against Mississippi State, but returned a few games later. Thursday’s injury was to the same leg, which is why Shehadi said Florida was being so careful with bringing him back against Maryland.

Texas Tech is also dealing with an injury to one of its star players. Chance McMillian missed his fourth consecutive game as he sat out during his team’s Sweet 16 victory over Arkansas. The second-team All-Big 12 selection has been nursing a strained oblique and has had to miss all three of the Red Raiders’ games in the NCAA Tournament to this point.

Thamel reports McMillian to be a game-time-decision for the Red Raiders. He was given the same designation for the last matchup, but was unable to go after shootaround.