Todd Golden calls out Mississippi State after Alex Condon injury: 'A dirty play'

Florida big man Alex Condon suffered a right ankle sprain in a game against Mississippi State on Tuesday night, and Gators coach Todd Golden called the play it happened on ‘a dirty play.’

Condon was attempting to rebound a basketball inside the first minute of action when he was injured.

He skied for a rebound and came down awkwardly, appearing to get his feet tangled with Mississippi State’s RJ Melendez. As Alex Condon fell to the court, Melendez made a sweeping motion with his arms around Condon’s neck, seemingly attempting to pull him down.

“I didn’t like the play,” Golden told reporters postgame, according to the Gainesville Sun. “I thought it was a dirty play, you know, it was exacerbated by the pull-down, the horse collar. And really disappointing for that to happen to one of your very good players early in the ball-game, and at the same time I think it lit a fire under our group. I thought we responded the right way, and I thought our guys did a heck of a job of stepping up in his absence.”

Florida appeared no worse for the wear without Alex Condon, who entered the game averaging a team-best 8.1 rebounds per contest.

Backup Thomas Haugh was everywhere, recording a near triple-double with 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the contest.

Still, getting Alex Condon back soon will be paramount for the Gators. He’s one of the most active big men in the conference and is coming off an SEC Player of the Week performance for his showing in wins over Vanderbilt and No. 1 Auburn.

Condon averaged 18.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 blocks in those two wins.

He posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the win at Auburn, which was the program’s first-ever win against a No. 1 ranked team on the road. He also added four assists in the win.

Including the game at Vanderbilt, Condon shot a combined 14-of-16 from two-point range last week.