Louisville basketball is returning to the KFC Yum! Center this afternoon in a showdown with Montana. The Cards will look to bounce back from their frustrating loss to Tennessee, which saw Louisville fall by at least 20 points to the Volunteers for the second straight season. Louisville was without star point guard Mikel Brown Jr. in that top-20 showdown, and after the game, Pat Kelsey gave a gray answer about his point guard.
Louisville fans had a feeling Brown would be on the sidelines in this final non-conference game (besides Baylor in February), and it was officially confirmed yesterday that he will be out for this afternoon's game. Louisville fans learned from The Field of 68 Jeff Goodman that Brown is expected to miss today's game again due to a lower back injury for the second straight game.
Louisville star freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr. is expected to miss his second straight game due to a back injury, source told @TheFieldOf68.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) December 19, 2025
The Cardinals host Montana tomorrow afternoon.
Related: Pat Kelsey gives gray injury update on Mikel Brown Jr. after Louisville loss
Louisville looks to bounce back without Mikel Brown Jr.
The Cards desperately missed Brown on Tuesday night, and now, with the program's first-ever matchup with Montana, they will have to try to earn their 10th win of the season without their 5-star commit. Adrian Wooley earned his first start of the season against Tennessee and stepped up big time as he scored a season high 19 points and shot the ball well at 46 percent.
The Cards fans want to see a similar result from Wooley this afternoon and hope the 5-star transfer makes another statement in his second start. As for Brown, the fans don't know when the 5-star will return, but after the loss to Tennessee, Kelsey certainly made it seem like the 5-star PG was day-to-day.
“I don’t know,” Kelsey stated on if Brown is day-to-day. “You’d have to ask the medical people in that.”
Louisville fans, of course, can't ask the medical staff when Brown will return, and with Montana not being a Power Five school and Louisville favored by 30.5, it felt like there was no rush to bring Brown back today. After today, Louisville doesn't play again until December 30, so he will have two weeks off since his last game, which is plenty of time to recover from this back injury.
However, with Brown missing today's game, it is likely Kelsey will be asked again after the game about his starting point guard's health, and until then, fans will have to wait.
For all the latest news and updates on Louisville basketball's 2025-26 season and recruiting, stay tuned.