Florida C Micah Handlogten thanks fans for prayers, support after fracturing leg vs. Auburn

Florida suffered a hugely unfortunate and serious injury early in the SEC Tournament championship game against Auburn when big man Micah Handlogten crumpled to the floor and needed immediate medical attention.

Blood dripped onto his leg, which flopped after he came down on it funny after attempting to secure a rebound with 17:46 remaining. Coach Todd Golden confirmed to ESPN that he had suffered a fractured lower left leg.

But the big man appeared to be in good spirits despite the injury while being tended to at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.

“Gator Nation, Thank you for all of the love and prayers!” Handlogten wrote on his Twitter account. “It has helped more than anyone could imagine. Keep supporting the boys so we can make a deep run in the NCAAT! I love you all!”

He concluded his tweet with a pair of orange and blue hearts, as well as a gator emoji.

Handlogten has been a huge part of Florida’s lineup, with the Gators employing the same starting lineup for the past 22 games with him at center.

The 7-foot-1 sophomore was averaging 5.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game as one of four big men that Florida rotates liberally throughout games. With him sidelined for the NCAA Tournament, the team’s rotation will get a little thinner.

So it was good to see Handlogten in good enough spirits to offer encouragement to this teammates.

Unfortunately for the Gators, they weren’t quite able to overcome the Handlogten injury despite battling back from an early deficit to briefly pull within one point of the Tigers in the championship game.

Auburn would go on to stretch out the lead and eventually finished with an 86-67 win.

Now Florida will await its NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday night, albeit knowing they will be without their starting center going forward. Most analysts have the Gators projected as a No. 6 or No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament.