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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — He tried giving it a go, but Louisville basketball's top marksman, Reyne Smith, is not available to play in the ACC Tournament championship game Saturday against top-ranked Duke.
This is Smith's fourth consecutive absence due to what coach Pat Kelsey described as a high-ankle sprain; which he suffered early in the first half of an 85-68 win over California on March 5 at the KFC Yum! Center.
Smith, a senior sharpshooter from Australia, wore a boot on his right foot during U of L's regular-season finale three days after going down against the Golden Bears. He had not been sporting it on the bench in Charlotte while watching his teammates gut out a last-second win over No. 7 Stanford on Thursday, their largest comeback of the season, and a 76-73 win over No. 2 Clemson on Friday.
Roughly an hour before tipoff Saturday, Smith took the court in uniform and began getting shots up. Thirty minutes later, he was back out there for the team's next round of warmups ... but stopped participating and walked back toward the locker room. When he emerged again, this time with Katie Creznic by his side, he watched as his teammates went through their pregame routine.
Kelsey was not asked about Smith's status for Saturday after taking down the Tigers. On Thursday, the coach said he was "day to day.
"He obviously wants to be out there so bad; he's as tough of a kid as I've ever coached," Kelsey added. "The type of ankle sprain that he has — kind of a high-ankle sprain — they're no fun. He's getting treatment, basically, around the clock; and then each day we see how he progresses."
Smith finished the regular season averaging a career-best 13.4 points, good for third on Louisville's roster, on 39.4% shooting with a 38.3% clip from 3-point range across 30.8 minutes per game. With 106 treys to his name, he ranked 11th across Division I as of Saturday morning and was 17 shy of passing Taquan Dean for the Cards' single-season record.
During a four-game stretch spanning U of L's Feb. 22 win over Florida State — after which Kelsey said he had been dealing with flu-like symptoms — to his short stint against Cal, however, Smith went 8 for 28 from the field.
Louisville has shot a combined 19 for 67 from beyond the arc in Smith's absence.
Duke is also dealing with some injuries. Coach Jon Scheyer will be without two players, freshman phenom Cooper Flagg (ankle) and junior forward Maliq Brown (shoulder), who haven't seen the court since the first half of a quarterfinal win Thursday over No. 8 Georgia Tech.
U of L vs. Duke will air on ESPN, which is channel 602 on AT&T U-Verse; channel 206 on DirecTV; channel 140 on Dish; and channel 506 on Spectrum.
If you subscribe to a cable package, you'll be able to livestream the game via ESPN.com and the ESPN app. If you don't have cable, you can livestream the game via Fubo, which offers a free trial here.
This story will be updated.
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at [email protected] and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball: Reyne Smith injury update ACC Tournament
Continue reading...
This is Smith's fourth consecutive absence due to what coach Pat Kelsey described as a high-ankle sprain; which he suffered early in the first half of an 85-68 win over California on March 5 at the KFC Yum! Center.
Smith, a senior sharpshooter from Australia, wore a boot on his right foot during U of L's regular-season finale three days after going down against the Golden Bears. He had not been sporting it on the bench in Charlotte while watching his teammates gut out a last-second win over No. 7 Stanford on Thursday, their largest comeback of the season, and a 76-73 win over No. 2 Clemson on Friday.
Roughly an hour before tipoff Saturday, Smith took the court in uniform and began getting shots up. Thirty minutes later, he was back out there for the team's next round of warmups ... but stopped participating and walked back toward the locker room. When he emerged again, this time with Katie Creznic by his side, he watched as his teammates went through their pregame routine.
Kelsey was not asked about Smith's status for Saturday after taking down the Tigers. On Thursday, the coach said he was "day to day.
"He obviously wants to be out there so bad; he's as tough of a kid as I've ever coached," Kelsey added. "The type of ankle sprain that he has — kind of a high-ankle sprain — they're no fun. He's getting treatment, basically, around the clock; and then each day we see how he progresses."
Smith finished the regular season averaging a career-best 13.4 points, good for third on Louisville's roster, on 39.4% shooting with a 38.3% clip from 3-point range across 30.8 minutes per game. With 106 treys to his name, he ranked 11th across Division I as of Saturday morning and was 17 shy of passing Taquan Dean for the Cards' single-season record.
During a four-game stretch spanning U of L's Feb. 22 win over Florida State — after which Kelsey said he had been dealing with flu-like symptoms — to his short stint against Cal, however, Smith went 8 for 28 from the field.
Louisville has shot a combined 19 for 67 from beyond the arc in Smith's absence.
Duke is also dealing with some injuries. Coach Jon Scheyer will be without two players, freshman phenom Cooper Flagg (ankle) and junior forward Maliq Brown (shoulder), who haven't seen the court since the first half of a quarterfinal win Thursday over No. 8 Georgia Tech.
How to watch Louisville basketball in the ACC Tournament championship
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U of L vs. Duke will air on ESPN, which is channel 602 on AT&T U-Verse; channel 206 on DirecTV; channel 140 on Dish; and channel 506 on Spectrum.
If you subscribe to a cable package, you'll be able to livestream the game via ESPN.com and the ESPN app. If you don't have cable, you can livestream the game via Fubo, which offers a free trial here.
This story will be updated.
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at [email protected] and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball: Reyne Smith injury update ACC Tournament
Continue reading...
