Louisville basketball takes on Georgia Tech tomorrow afternoon, looking to get back in the win column after its recent loss to SMU. Louisville's loss to SMU snapped its five-game win streak, and with just five games remaining, the Cardinals will look to secure their third five-game win streak of the season.
A major reason the Cardinals were able to secure five straight wins is the recent play of their star guard, Mikel Brown Jr. The 6-foot-5, 195-pound guard is playing his best basketball of the season, and he is leading this Cardinals team right before March.
Brown has been nearly unguardable over the last few games, and his dominant three-game stretch has put him right back in the conversation he belongs in.
Mikel Brown Jr. back in Freshman of the Year conversations
Brown entered the college basketball season with incredibly high expectations after he ranked No. 6 overall and No. 1 among point guards in the 2025 recruiting class. While he got off to a good start, including his 29-point performance against Kentucky, nothing compares to the dominant run he is on right now.
The former 5-star guard was recently bumped into ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf's top 10 men's college basketball Freshman of the Year contenders, and if he can continue this stretch, he is only poised to keep climbing.
"Brown had arguably the best three-game run of anyone in college basketball over the last eight days, easily deserving a spot back in the rankings after nearly two months out. The highlight performance: 45 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals on 14-for-23 shooting against NC State. He went 10-for-16 from 3 and 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. Then he followed that performance up with 29 points, 6 assists and 5 steals on 8-for-14 shooting against Baylor, going 4-for-5 from 3 and making all nine of his foul shots -- and then he went for 29 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and shot 4-for-8 from 3 in a loss to SMU. It's been a remarkable stretch: In those three games, he averaged 34.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 3.3 steals and shooting percentages of 60.0% from the field, 62.1% from 3 and 100% from the free-throw line"Jeff Borzello
ESPN has Brown ranked No. 7 on this list as he jumped into the top 10 after not being ranked before. Brown is on an absolute tear over the past few games, averaging 34.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 3.3 steals while shooting 60 percent from the field and 62 percent from downtown.
This dominant stretch began when he set an ACC freshman record with 45 points, and he has continued it with two 29-point performances. Now, with just five games remaining, Brown is back in the top freshman of the year conversations and has Louisville projected as high as a No. 4 seed in some Bracketologies.
Brown belongs in this conversation, and the Cardinals need him to play like this to make a run to Indianapolis. The other freshmen ranked ahead of Brown in order are Duke's Cameron Boozer, BYU's AJ Dybantsa, Arkansas' Darius Acuff Jr., North Carolina's Caleb Wilson, Illinois' Keaton Wagler, and Houston's Kingston Flemings.
Brown and the Cardinals take on Georgia Tech tomorrow afternoon at 2:15 p.m. local time inside KFC Yum! Center.