Louisville basketball will return to action tonight against Stanford in the Cardinals' second ACC game of their 2025-26 season. Louisville will make its debut in the new year, as its last game was on Dec. 30 against Cal, when it earned its first ACC victory. Louisville earned another 20-point victory, winning 90-70 in its first road win.
Now, they will look to repeat that recipe and win on the road for their second game in a row against the 11-3 Stanford Cardinal. Louisville has been without 5-star commit and projected NBA lottery Draft pick Mikel Brown Jr. for the last three games, and as we get closer to tipoff, Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 reports that the Cardinals are likely without their starting point guard once again.
Louisville is likely to be without Mikel Brown Jr. again tonight when the Cardinals play the Cardinal at Maples Pavilion, source told @TheFieldOf68.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) January 2, 2026
Brown (16.6 ppg, 5.1 apg) has missed the last 3 games while dealing with a back injury.
Mikel Brown Jr. reportedly "likely" out tonight
The Cardinals are 2-1 this season without Brown, and in the past three games, Louisville fans have seen 5-star transfer Adrian Wooley step up and play his best basketball since arriving at Louisville. Brown has missed the last three games with back pain and has not played a game since Dec. 13, when Louisville defeated Memphis.
Last game against Cal, he was listed as probable on the ACC injury report. However, he was downgraded to out just before tipoff. For tonight's game, he was listed as questionable. Now, with tipoff approaching, Goodman is the first to report Brown is likely to miss his fourth consecutive game.
Louisville fans are eyeing their massive game against Duke, which is just four days away. The Cardinals are set to host the No. 6 team in the nation on their home court on Jan. 6 from the KFC Yum! Center. With Duke’s dominant 2025 class and Louisville’s dominant Transfer Portal class joined by Brown, this is one of the most anticipated games.
Louisville fans hope Brown is healthy for that marquee matchup. With Brown likely out, everyone is eager to see if he will be available for the high-stakes game against Duke.