Will Mikel Brown Jr. play in Louisville vs USF NCAA Tournament game?

• Louisville basketball has been without starting point guard Mikel Brown Jr. for the past four games due to a reaggravated back injury.
• When asked Monday about Brown's status for the March Madness opener vs. South Florida, coach Pat Kelsey said, "He made great progress last week. We'll see how the next couple of days practice go."
• Will the Cardinals get their projected NBA lottery pick back for Thursday's 1:30 p.m. tipoff against the Bulls? Here's the latest update.

BUFFALO, NY — Mikel Brown Jr. won't play in Louisville basketball's NCAA Tournament opener against South Florida due to a back injury, the team announced in a statement Wednesday morning.

The statement also said the freshman point guard won't be available if Pat Kelsey's sixth-seeded Cardinals win Thursday's 1:30 p.m. tipoff against the No. 11 Bulls at KeyBank Center and advance to Saturday's second round, where they would face either No. 3 Michigan State or No. 14 North Dakota State.

Brown, who's projected to be an NBA lottery pick later this year, has been sidelined for the Cardinals' past four games (and 12 total this season). Kelsey said Brown reaggravated the injury, which surfaced in mid-December, by taking some hard falls during a Feb. 23 loss at then-No. 19 North Carolina.

"Our medical people did everything in their power over the last couple weeks — and especially these last several days since the ACC Tournament — with the hope of (him) playing this weekend," Kelsey said during his media availability Wednesday morning. "We're just not there."

"It sucks for me, because this is what you dream of as a kid — to play in these types of environments," Brown added during locker room availability. "But my health does come first, as the staff told me and my people told me. So that's what's going to happen."

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. His nine outings of 20 or more points are the most by a freshman during a single season in program history. He also shares the team lead in steals per contest (1.2) with Ryan Conwell.

Brown last played during a Feb. 28 loss at Clemson, recording five points on 2-for-10 shooting, four assists, two rebounds and two steals across 21 minutes off the bench.

When asked Wednesday to describe the pain he's experiencing — and when, specifically, he experiences it — Brown said, "Guarding, trying to be physical. This is a physical game. I'm just not able to hit that standard right now."

Brown was an active participant in Louisville's open practice period Wednesday. But it was more of a shootaround than anything else.

"Just five-on-zero, just trying to run up and down the court," Brown said when asked about the extent of what he can do at the moment. I've got to get my wind back; obviously, I haven't played a game in two, two-and-a-half, three weeks. I'm only doing five-on-zero in practice, but besides practice, I'm trying to do one-on-one, a lot of physical stuff — guarding, just doing the normal stuff that we do, tying to play the style that we play.

"I just feel like I really can't play to our standard. I've never been trained to go half speed — at anything. That's the only speed I can go right now."

Louisville enters March Madness with a 7-5 record with Brown on the bench and a 16-5 record when he plays. Per CBBAnalytics.com, it averages 6.4 fewer points per 40 minutes (88.1 vs. 81.7) and shoots 4.8% worse from beyond the arc (38.2% vs. 33.4%) when he's not on the court.

"We all love him — and we've got his back," Conwell said. "We know that, if he could, he would be out here. It's just tough. He'll still be with us, on the sideline, talking to us, trying to help us get the job done and win the game. No matter what, we're all still a team."

"The unfortunate thing is those guys in the locker room right now are answering questions about that instead of their experience of playing in the national tournament," Kelsey added. "Mikel is a big part of our team, and he's a beloved member of our team. ... It's just unfortunate he's not able to play. There's been a big chunk of the season when he wasn't able to play, as well, and I'm really proud of our guys for adjusting and stepping up."

Last week, Brown became the first UofL player to be named to the ACC's All-Rookie team since Jae'Lyn Withers (2020-21). However, the 6-foot-5 Orlando, Florida, native slipped from the preseason all-conference first team to third-team status — due in large part to the back injury causing him to miss 10 regular-season games. 

What channel is Louisville vs USF in March Madness first round?

The game between the sixth-seeded Cards and the No.11 Bulls will air on TNT.

You'll also be able to watch the game via streaming services such as Sling TV.

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at [email protected] and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.