Louisville basketball is taking on the SMU Mustangs tomorrow afternoon in Charlotte, N.C., in the second round of the ACC Tournament. The Cardinals are entering this postseason run after a big-time win on the road over the Miami Hurricanes, which marked Louisville’s first win over a ranked team on the road since Jan. 18, 2020.
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With the ACC Tournament here, Louisville fans are zeroed in on their star point guard, Mikel Brown Jr., as the 5-star freshman has missed two games straight with a back injury that forced him to miss eight games in the middle of the season. Well, Louisville fans got gut-wrenching news this evening as Pat Kelsey announced Brown will miss the entire ACC Tournament and will focus on getting ready for the NCAA Tournament.
NEWS: Louisville freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. will be out for the entirety of the ACC Tournament with the goal of being ready for the NCAA Tournament, per the school.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 11, 2026
Mikel Brown Jr. will miss entire ACC Tournament for Louisville
The Cardinals are facing SMU tomorrow afternoon in the two programs' third matchup of the season. The series is split 1-1, as the Cards took the game back inside KFC Yum! Center, led by Brown with 20 points on 50 percent shooting, and then SMU took the most recent game in February.
Louisville’s head coach addressed the injury update on their star point guard, saying Brown wants to play but they want to focus on the NCAA Tournament and getting him to 100 percent.
"Mikel wants to play in the ACC Tournament, but we believe it is best to have him continue his path of improvement and have him 100% for the first round of the NCAA Tournament," Kelsey stated in the injury report statement. "He’s close and chomping at the bit to be out there with his teammates.”
Brown is second on the team in scoring with 18.2 points per game while leading the Cardinals with 4.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Tomorrow will mark Brown’s 11th game he will miss, with Louisville holding a 6-4 record without its 5-star freshman, but a 1-3 record against ranked teams without Brown.
Louisville’s path to win its first ACC Title certainly just got harder, as Louisville fans were hoping to earn some marquee wins and improve its resume and climb up the NCAA Tournament seeds.
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