Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Louisville will be without Gorgui Dieng vs. Duke

Rick Pitino

Louisville center Gorgui Dieng talks talks during a news conference as head coach Rick Pitino looks on the Battle 4 Atlantis NCAA college basketball tournament, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012, in Paradise Island, Bahamas. Louisville plays Northern Iowa in the first round on Thursday. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

AP

No. 2 Louisville had a tough matchup against No. 5 Duke in tonight’s Battle 4 Atlantis title game (NBC Sports Network, 9:00 PM ET) already, but the margin for error just got a lot thinner.

Gorgui Dieng, the team’s second-leading rebounder (8.0 rpg) and leading shot blocker (2.0 bpg), will sit out tonight’s game with a wrist injury suffered in the tournament semifinal against No. 13 Missouri, which the Cards won 84-61. Dieng injured his left wrist in a fall during the earlier game, in which he had 5 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and a block in 24 minutes of play.

Louisville SID Kenny Kline tweeted the bad news to fans at 5:00 PM eastern time.

Louisville C Gorgui Dieng (wrist injury) will not play in tonight’s #Battle4Atlantis championship game vs Duke. #L1C4

— Kenny Klein (@KKcards) November 24, 2012


Kline also noted that 6'10", 250-lb. sophomore Zach Price will take Dieng’s place in the starting lineup. Price is averaging a meager seven minutes and 0.3 points per game so far this year, so his start may be merely a formality, so that the team’s second-tallest player (after the 6'11" Dieng) can handle the tip-off. Expect to see much more of George Mason transfer Luke Hancock, who shook off his early struggles to score 19 points on 6-9 shooting against the Tigers on Friday.

Hancock’s shooting touch will be nice for Louisville, if it’s on like it was in the semis. But the lack of a skilled defensive big man in the middle may very well cost the Cards dearly against Duke’s Mason Plumlee, who has averaged a double-double so far this season against tough competition.