Depth was supposed to be Louisville's major weapon heading into this season's battle with arch-rival Kentucky, but three of the nine players on the Cardinal roster who average better than 15 minutes per game will be forced to watch from the sidelines tomorrow.
The latest Cardinal casualty is sophomore forward Rakeem Buckles, who suffered a spiral fracture in his finger while going through a drill Thursday morning. He joins teammates Elisha Justice and Mike Marra on the de facto inactive list for tomorrow's game.
Buckles is Louisville's leading rebounder at 7.5 rpg. He's also averaging 8.2 points per game with a high of 17 in the season-opener against Butler.
Pitino said sophomore Stephen Van Treese will be looked at to step up in Buckles' absence.