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Alijah Martin ruled out for Florida-Mississippi State game
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Alijah Martin will miss another Florida basketball game.
The standout guard was officially ruled out for Tuesday’s top-25 showdown in Starkville between No. 3 Florida and No. 22 Mississippi State. The SEC posted the updated availability report 2 hours before tipoff (7 p.m. ET).
Micah Handlogten, yet to play this season, is also out for the Gators. MSU will be without Kanye Clary, who is out for the season.
Martin is dealing with a hip pointer. He missed Florida’s win at No. 3 Auburn on Saturday due to the injury. UF head coach Todd Golden told reporters on Monday that Martin looked better on Sunday and that he expected the guard to return the lineup for Tuesday. Golden, though, stopped short of guaranteeing Martin’s return to the lineup due to the unpredictable nature of the injury.
Martin is 3rd on the team in minutes, averaging 30.4 per game. He is second on the team in scoring with 15.3 points per game, behind Walter Clayton Jr. (17.5 ppg).
On Saturday, the Gators turned to Denzel Aberdeen in Martin’s absence. Aberdeen gave the Gators 28 minutes, and reached double figures with 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers. It marked back-to-back starts for Aberdeen, who stepped in for an injured Clayton against Vanderbilt.
Tuesday’s game will air on ESPN2. Though UF is the higher-ranked team, MSU is favored by 2.5 points at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
