Louisville star freshman Mikel Brown out for NCAA Tournament opener vs. South Florida

Louisville's second-leading scorer is dealing with a back injury and is not expected back should the Cardinals advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, either

Louisville star freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. will miss the Cardinals' NCAA Tournament opener against South Florida, and a potential second-round game due to a back injury, the team announced Wednesday. Brown is the Cardinals' second-leading scorer this season at 18.2 points per game and leads Louisville in assists at 4.7 per contest.

Brown hasn't played in a game since Feb. 28 and has missed 12 contests overall this season. He erupted for a season-best 45 points during a 118-77 win over NC State this season, which included a 10-for-16 effort from beyond the arc. It was an ACC freshman single-game scoring record, beating Cooper Flagg's 42 points last season for Duke, and tied Hall of Famer Wes Unseld's single-game program best, set on Dec. 1, 1967, against Georgetown College.

The sixth-seeded Cardinals (23-10) open March Madness play on Thursday against 11th-seeded South Florida. Louisville opened as a 7.5-point favorite over the Bulls, but that line has shrunk to -4.5 through the week, according to DraftKings. 

Clock is ticking for Brackets! Get back in your pools and enter our Bracket Challenge for your chance to win a dream trip to the 2027 Final FourⓇ.

Louisville won three straight to end the regular season in the ACC before losing to Miami in last week's conference tournament quarterfinals.

"He made great progress last week," Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said Monday, before the unfortunate injury update. "We'll see how the next couple days of practice go."

Louisville is 16-5 this season and averages 88.1 points per game offensively in games Brown has appeared. The Cardinals are just 7-5 and averaging 81.7 in games without him.

In Brown's absence, Louisville's scoring punch falls heavily on leading threat Ryan Conwell (18.7 points a game), J'Vonne Hadley (11.8 PPG) and Isaac McKneely (10.6 PPG).