Reyne Smith injury update: What happened to Louisville guard vs Creighton?

The Louisville Cardinals, coached by Pat Kelsey, had their campaign come to a disappointing end in the first round of the national tournament. Despite being the No. 8 seed of the South region, they were toppled by 14 points by the Creighton Bluejays, 89-75, and now conclude the 2024-2025 season with a 27-8 overall record, 18-2 during conference play.

To add insult to injury, senior guard Reyne Smith, who was coming off of a right ankle injury, re-injured the same ankle during the fixture that had him carried off the court. The Cardinals' year is now over, and whether or not Smith plays out a fifth and final season of college basketball, he'll have all the time to take a call on it.

Smith sustained the injury at 11:37 of the second period when his foot gave out. This was his first game in weeks and he had already played 20 minutes. Whether he was rushing his recovery or not to return for his squad in the national tournament, the only thing is that he did all he could to help his team win.

The fourth-year standout checked in at the 15:37 mark of the first half, where he immediately logged in a three-pointer at the 13:51 mark that momentarily gave Louisville the lead, 12-11. He got a couple of boards before being subbed out, possibly due to injury regulations.

In the second half, Smith was looking for his shot, but despite it not falling in, he did damage on the free throw line and by rebounding the ball. Right before the halfway point of the second half, Smith re-aggravated his right ankle, causing him to go into a fetal position on the floor where his teammates and coaches helped him off after surrounding him with hugs.

The 6'2 Smith finished with five points and two rebounds in 20 minutes of action, with the Cardinals' season prematurely ending. He had missed the team's last four fixtures with the right ankle injury, including all of their games in the 2025 ACC tournament where Louisville went all the way to the championship game but lost to the Duke Blue Devils, 73-62.

The Louisville Cardinals played their first March Madness matchup since the 2018-2019 season

Despite their disheartening elimination from the national tournament, the Louisville Cardinals still accomplished a feat they haven't done in six years by getting into March Madness. Their last national tourney appearance came in the 2018-2019 season.

Looking ahead to next season, there are a lot of things to look forward to for the program as they'll definitely try to bank on this momentum. In the loss to the Creighton Bluejays, the team was led by Chucky Hepburn, who had 22 points, two boards, six dimes, and a steal, followed by Terrence Edwards Jr. who had 21 markers of his own with four caroms, three assists and two swipes.