GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida forward Alex Condon will wear a protective mouthpiece on the court for the foreseeable future.
The 6-foot-10 sophomore from Perth, Australia, had to visit a dentist Thursday to get two teeth moved back into place after taking an inadvertent elbow from RJ Godfrey during an 88-83 loss at Georgia on Tuesday.
“I could feel them in my tongue,” Condon said Friday. “They were just back in my mouth. It was pretty gross.”
Condon slammed a towel to the ground and ripped off his No. 21 jersey as he left the court with 8:46 remaining in the second half. He was returning after missing most of the previous four games with a sprained right ankle.
“I was just more frustrated because I had done the same thing last year,” Condon said. “So I know exactly what the process was. It’s pretty tedious. It wasn’t fun waking up early [Thursday] and getting them pushed back into the right place.”
Condon got a metal wire inserted around the teeth to hold them in place while the surrounding tissue heals. One of the more physical players for the third-ranked Gators, Condon declined to wear a mouthpiece after sustaining similar damage last season. But he insisted Friday that he’s “definitely going to wear it now” after “my mom started crying.”
The Gators (24-4, 11-4 SEC) host No. 12 Texas A&M (20-8, 9-6) on Saturday night.
Condon is averaging 10.5 points and a team-leading 7.6 rebounds per game this season. The former Australian rules football and water polo player also leads the Gators with 35 blocks and ranks third on the team with 57 assists.
He finished with nine points on 1-of-7 shooting and added three rebounds off the bench against the Bulldogs.
“I thought he played hard, I thought he competed really well, just was a little rusty around the rim, didn’t finish great,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “Maybe not his best efficiency effort but played really hard and feels great to have him back out there. I think over the course of the next two weeks, before we get to [NCAA] tournament play, he’ll be back to what he was before the injury.”
Condon also is expected to resume his starting role against the Aggies — with a mouthpiece this time and hopefully no more blood.
“I’ve been pretty lucky,” he said. “With more playing time and more people seeking out to initiate contact with you, it’s going to happen. So just preparing for that. My dad tells me all the time, ‘The harder you go in, the less likely you are to get hurt.’ So I’m just taking that with me.”
