Louisville basketball takes on the Syracuse Orange this evening in the Cardinals' final home game of the season, and in their second-to-last regular-season game. The Cards sit in seventh place in the ACC standings with just two games remaining, and if the tournament started today, they would face the winner of Florida State and Pitt, and if they win that game, they would face Virginia in the quarterfinals.
Entering today’s matchup with Syracuse, all the attention is once again on Mikel Brown Jr. The star point guard for the Louisville Cardinals suffered a back injury against North Carolina after taking some hard falls in a physical game, was downgraded to a game-time decision, and came off the bench against Clemson. Now, for tonight’s game, in what will most likely be his final game at KFC Yum! Center it was announced last night that the star guard is out against Syracuse.
Mikel Brown Jr. ruled out against Syracuse
Brown will miss his ninth game of the season with a back injury after he missed eight straight in the middle of the season. During that eight-game window, Louisville struggled, going just 4-4, including a 21-point loss to Tennessee, an 11-point loss to Duke, a nine-point loss to Virginia, and a four-point loss to Stanford.
Mikel Brown Jr. will not play for Louisville in Tuesday night’s game against Syracuse pic.twitter.com/NbANbksK9I
— Mike Rutherford (@CardChronicle) March 3, 2026
In the last game against the Tigers, Brown was clearly bothered by his back injury, as he was on the bike for a large portion of the time he was subbing out, just trying to stay loose. He averages 29.2 minutes per game, but on Saturday, he played just 21 minutes in a huge showdown that eliminated the Cardinals from earning the double bye.
Before his five-point showing against the Tigers, the former 5-star was dominant as he averaged 29.2 points while shooting 52.2 percent from the field, 54 percent from beyond the arc, and 100 percent from the free throw line in the five games prior to Clemson’s game. He averages 18.2 points, 4.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from downtown.
With Louisville traveling to Miami on Saturday, the Cards fans will be eager to see if their starting point guard is available in a big road game against the No. 22 team in the nation.
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