Late in a hard-fought March Madness game, a UCLA star suffered an ugly injury that stopped play for a significant amount of time.
During seven-seed UCLA’s game against ten-seed UCF in Philadelphia, guard Skyy Clark was scrapping for a loose ball with counterpart Themus Fulks.
As the two fought, Fulks inadvertently swung his elbow and hit Clark directly in the mouth.
The blow dislodged one of his front teeth, with the cameras from Turner Sports capturing the moment it fell out.
Clark was immediately tended to by medical staff who cared for him on the floor before he was substituted out of the game for further treatment.
Officials further stopped the proceedings to check the court for any blood – all while one of Clark’s teammates ran out to retrieve the tooth for his teammate.
UCLA star Skyy Clark suffered a gruesome injury where he lost his front tooth
A swinging elbow from a UCF opponent saw Clark’s front tooth knocked out on camera
Clark eventually returned and scored eight points to help seal a victory for UCLA
Clark eventually returned to the game and even hit a free throw with 2.3 seconds remaining to put a 75-71 victory on ice.
After the game, Clark flashed a toothless grin before telling The Athletic’s Justin Williams that he plans on putting the fragment of his incisor under his pillow.
In 20 minutes of play, Clark finished with eight points, one rebound, two assists and two steals.
The Bruins were led by 20 points from Eric Dailey Jr on a night where UCLA star Tyler Bilodeau was out with an injury.
UCLA will hope he’s back for a Sunday matchup against the winner of the late game between two-seed UConn and 15-seed Furman.
