Louisville 'Confident' Contact Tracing Will Not Affect Them Following Positive Duke Test

Despite the Blue Devils experiencing a positive COVID-19 test following their game vs. the Cardinals, a Louisville spokesman says they are confident that contact tracing will not affect them.

(Photo of Mark Williams, David Johnson: Nell Redmond/USA TODAY Sports)

GREENSBORO, N.C. - If the Louisville men's basketball program did not have enough to worry about as it pertains to the NCAA Tournament, they potentially do now.

The Duke Blue Devils, who Louisville fell to 70-56 in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on Wednesday night, had a positive test for COVID-19 come up and will not play in the quarterfinals against Florida State, the conference announced Thursday.

Fortunately, it seems that Cardinals could be in the clear. Louisville SID Kenny Klein said in a release that the program tested all Tier 1 individuals after their game vs. Duke, all of which came up negative, and that the program is "confident through the ACC’s use of Kinexon digital proximity technology that we will not experience any contact tracing that would affect our team". 

Klein also noted that Louisville is tested daily, and that the program is "on a path to have the requisite consecutive days of negative tests to be able to compete in the NCAA Tournament".

CBS Sports college basketball analyst is reporting that the positive test is with a Duke player who did not play against the Cardinals, with Stadium's Jeff Goodman further reporting that it was a walk-on.

The ACC is also confident that the test will no affect other teams, as they were using separate locker rooms and adhering to cleaning protocols, per The Athletic's Dana O'Neil. Florida State now advances to play the winner of Virginia Tech/North Carolina.

Louisville sports a record of 13-7 with an 8-5 mark in conference play, and are awaiting their NCAA Tournament fate in hopes that they will secure an at-large bid. Selection Sunday is scheduled for Sunday, Mar. 14 at 6:00 p.m. EST on CBS.

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