L’ville’s Smith, ACC leader in threes, exits with injury

LOUISVILLE, Ky.– Reyne Smith left No. 14 Louisville’s game versus Cal on Wednesday night with an obvious lower leg injury.The senior guard

left the game with 12:36 staying in the very first half. When the Cardinals went back to the court for second-half warmups, Smith came out after other players and did not take part.Louisville won 85-68 without Smith behind Terrence Edwards Jr.’s career-high 35 points.Editor’s Picks 2 Related Smith, who is third on the group averaging 13.8 points per game, has been among the

catalysts

for the Cardinals’turn-around this season. He moved to Louisville after three seasons with the College of Charleston to continue playing for coach Pat Kelsey.After the game, Kelsey stated he was informed by the team’s athletic fitness instructor that Smith would not have the ability to play but did not know if his guard may miss additional time.The 6-foot-2 Australian is considered one of the country’s top outside shooters. For the season, he has made 106 of his 277 3-point efforts.

He leads the ACC and is third nationally in 3-pointers made.A prolonged lack would be the most recent blow to the Cardinals’ depth, after they lost crucial players Koren Johnson and Kasean Pryor to season-ending injuries in November. Despite that, Louisville has won 8 directly and 18 of 19 to post a 24-6 record and a 17-2 mark in the ACC.Before Wednesday’s game, Louisville was 13th in the ACC making 33.1%of its 3-pointers, however the team’s 283 were 2nd most in the conference. The Cardinals went 11-for-23 in Wednesday’s win.”We’re a great 3-point shooting

group,” Kelsey said. “We value that in the recruiting procedure, and we’re built that way. Undoubtedly, Reyne’s elite. Reyne’s among the very best shooters in college basketball. One of the best shooters that I have actually ever coached, but we have a lot of guys who can make shots.”The Associated Press contributed to this report.