Mikel Brown Jr. will not be available for Louisville’s NCAA Tournament opener against South Florida. The team announced the news in a statement on Wednesday morning.
The statement also indicated that Brown would not be available for the second round if the team advances this weekend.
Brown’s Back Injury Sidelines Him
The freshman point guard, projected as an NBA lottery pick later this year, has missed the Cardinals’ past four games because of a reaggravated back injury. In total, he’s been sidelined for 12 games this season.
Kelsey said Brown reaggravated the back injury, which initially surfaced in mid-December, by taking some hard falls during a Feb. 23 loss at then-No. 19 North Carolina. The freshman last played during a Feb. 28 loss at Clemson: five points on 2-for-10 shooting, four assists, two rebounds and two steals across 21 minutes off the bench. Since then, the focus has been on getting him back to 100%.
“He made great progress last week,” Kelsey said Monday in Louisville. “We’ll see how the next couple of days of practice go.”
Impact on Louisville’s Performance
Louisville’s record stands at 7-5 with Brown on the bench, compared to 16-5 when he plays. The team averages 6.4 fewer points per 40 minutes when he’s not on the court, according to CBBAnalytics.com. They also shoot 4.8% worse from beyond the arc when he’s not playing.
- Record with Brown: 16-5
- Record without Brown: 7-5
- Points per 40 minutes with Brown: 88.1
- Points per 40 minutes without Brown: 81.7
Brown’s Perspective on His Return
Brown told reporters at the ACC Tournament he was “starting to get there. I’m slowly progressing; I’m slowly doing more day in and day out, just trying to get a feel for it. But, obviously, like coach said, the plan is: I’ll come back when I’m 100%.”
When asked if he would be back for the NCAA Tournament, he replied, “Right now, I’m just focused on my rehab more than anything. When the time feels right, I’m going to talk to the coaching staff; and we’re going to come to an agreement.”
Brown’s Season Stats and Accolades
Brown finished the regular season as UofL’s No. 2 scorer with 18.2 points on 41% shooting (34.4% from 3) and a team-high 4.7 assists (against 3.1 turnovers) across 29 minutes per game. He shares the team lead in steals per contest (1.2) with Ryan Conwell.
His nine outings of 20 or more points are the most by a freshman during a single season in program history. Last week, Brown became the first UofL player to be named to the ACC’s All-Rookie team since Jae’Lyn Withers (2020-21).
The 6-foot-5 Orlando, Florida, native slipped from the preseason all-conference first team to third-team status. This was due in large part to the back injury causing him to miss 10 regular-season games.
The game between the sixth-seeded Cards and the No.11 Bulls will air on TNT.