Louisville basketball is facing Creighton in their NCAA Tournament opener, and things couldn’t have gone worse for them during the game. After being out since March 5, Reyne Smith returned to the floor for the tournament, but unfortunately went down with another injury and had to be helped off the floor, according to Louisville reporter Dusty Baker.
“The Cards are all gathered around Reyne Smith who just went down. He made his return to the court earlier today for the first time since March 5th,” Baker wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Smith started the game with five points but was shooting 1-for-5 from three. After he was helped off the floor, he was taken to the locker room, where he underwent further evaluation.
Smith missed Louisville’s regular-season finale because of an ankle injury, but he was working hard to return to the team for the tournament, and that was evident after seeing him do some workouts on the bike.
From Louisville strength coach Eli Foy’s Instagram: Reyne Smith getting some bike work in after missing, and wearing a boot during, the Cards’ regular-season finale due to an ankle injury. pic.twitter.com/aLtFmKpehg
— Brooks Holton (@brooksHolton) March 10, 2025
Smith suffered the injury against California and missed four and a half games. Before the NCAA Tournament, he sounded confident that he’d be able to return to the floor for Louisville.
“It’s feeling great,” Smith said. “Had a great past week of treatment and doing everything I could to get back. So it’s in a really good spot right now. Looking forward to getting on the court with my teammates and competing. I probably would have made more of an effort to get out there (in the ACC Tournament) and really push it if it had been the NCAA Tournament. But really the main focus has been to get ready for this tournament.”
This season, Smith is averaging 13.4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game while shooting 38 percent from the 3-point line. It’s obvious that has been a big reason for the team’s success, and it’s unfortunate that he went down again with another injury.
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