Todd Golden Gives Timeline for Micah Handlogten After Head Injury vs. Miami

Micah Handlogten exited Florida's win over Miami in the first half with a head injury.

Florida Gators center Micah Handlogten suffered a head injury against Miami. | Candice Ward-Imagn Images

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-- After exiting Sunday's win over Miami with a head injury in the first half, Micah Handlogten has a tentative timeline to return to the court, according to Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden.

"He's gonna be fine," Golden said after the 82-68 win in the Jacksonville Sports Invitational. "We just want held him out for precautionary reasons, so I expect him to play Friday (against Merrimack)."

Handlogten exited the game with 2:39 left in the half while committing a shooting foul. He finished the game with no points, three rebounds and three personal fouls in nine minutes of play off the bench.

Through four games this year, Handlogten is averaging 7.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game but has only scored two points in his last two games. He opened the season with back-to-back double-doubles with an 11-point, 12-rebound game against Arizona and a 17-point, 13-rebound game against North Florida.

He has also had 10 rebounds in 19 minutes across the last two games.

“Micah is a great player. He didn’t get as much as opportunity as last year late in the season. As I’ve said a million times, we don’t win a championship without him," Golden said after the win over UNF. "He’s had an incredible offseason. He got himself in the best shape he has been in for his whole entire life. He is playing incredibly well right now."

Florida Gators center Micah Handlogten opened the season with back-to-back double-doubles. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Handlogten's injury was the first exit in Florida's front court as starters Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon both fouled out with under seven minutes left, forcing Florida to rely on reserve Viktor Mikic in limited minutes and forcing wing Thomas Haugh to play center with four guards, including bench players Urban Klavzar and Isaiah Brown.

"We had to get in there and obviously get deep into our bench," Golden said. "We played Mik tonight, who is a really good player, missed a couple of free throws, but provided some minutes for us. I thought Zay Brown was huge. I know he didn't get a bunch of stats, but played 18 minutes and really helped us win in a lot of different ways. So, and then Urby obviously stepping in off the bench and giving us 15 was a huge lift.

"In a game like this, you've got to have a next-man-up mentality. And I thought our bench did a really good job stepping up."

Haugh, splitting time between the wing, forward and center, scored 15 points with three 3-pointers. Brown added two points, but added two rebounds, two blocks and an assist.

Klavzar had the biggest impact off the bench with 15 points with four 3-pointers.

"The Urban Klavzar you saw tonight is the guy we know we have on the roster," Golden said. "Stepped up and hit some really, really big shots in some moments tonight that allowed us to run out of here with a pretty big win."

Florida (3-1) returns home on Friday to face Merrimack. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. with streaming-only coverage on SEC Network+.