Louisville basketball fell short to North Carolina last night after the Cardinals came back from down 16 and brought it to within three, and got a chance for a miracle to tie it with .8 seconds remaining. Louisville falls to 20-8 on the season and 9-6 in conference play.
The Cardinals continue to struggle against quality teams on the road, as they are 3-6 away from home and 0-4 against ranked teams on the road. Last night, this team showed heart and fought back in the final minutes, and Mikel Brown Jr. was a key reason it kept it close.
The Cardinals' true freshman continues to play his best basketball as we get closer to March, and Jay Williams said what many Louisville basketball fans are thinking.
Related: 4 takeaways from Louisville basketball's disappointing loss against North Carolina
Mikel Brown Jr. earns major praise from Jay Williams
Brown is emerging as one of the best freshmen in this class and one of the best basketball players in college basketball. He is leading this Louisville team late in the season, averaging a team-high 18.9 points while shooting 41.8 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from downtown.
The former 5-star point guard faced a lot of criticism early in the season and after the Duke game, but last night during the broadcast, Williams said something many Cardinals fans agree with.
“I really believe this. We talk a lot about Caleb Wilson, we talk a lot about Cameron Boozer, but Mikel Brown Jr. does not get enough respect nationally,” Williams stated last night. “You’re talking about a guy that’s not only cracking the top ten, but may crack the top five of the NBA Draft.”
Williams was one of the announcers for last night's game and played at Duke during his college basketball career, where he averaged 21.3 points while shooting 45.7 percent from the field, and went on to be the No. 2 overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft.
But what Williams had to say about Brown is hard to argue. Many talk about Wilson and Boozer from the ACC, or Darius Acuff Jr. and Kingston Flemmings as point guards, but Brown doesn't get the attention and spotlight that those players do. Everyone talked about his historic 45-point performance against North Carolina State, but after that game, he hasn’t slowed down at all, including last night.
Brown was trying to do everything for Louisville last night. He was twitching through the lanes, shooting it well beyond the arc, changing his speed to get to the rim, and much more. The former 5-star was not the reason Louisville lost last night, and was a key reason they only lost by three. He scored a team high of 24 points and splashed six 3-pointers on 42.9 percent shooting from downtown.
Since his return from injury, the Cardinals are 7-3, and Brown is averaging 21.1 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 43.4 percent from downtown. But in these last five games, he has really stepped it up, taking over, averaging 29.2 points while shooting 52.2 percent from the floor and 54 percent from beyond the arc.
For someone who is going to be a lottery pick in the NBA Draft and is a former 5-star who led Team USA to gold over the summer, Brown doesn’t get nearly enough national attention, and Jay Williams was the first to say it out loud in the national media.
Related: Louisville's Mikel Brown Jr is forcing his way into Freshman of the Year race
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