Louisville F Brandon Huntley-Hatfield Out vs. Pitt

The second year big man, who leads the Cardinals in rebounding, will miss his second game in a row.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program will once again be without one of their starters when they host Pitt.

Starting forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield will not be available for tonight's contest against the Panthers due to a right foot injury, the school announced prior to the matchup.

This will be Huntley-Hatfield's second consecutive game being sidelined, also missing last Saturday's 80-59 loss vs. North Carolina. Head coach Kenny Payne revealed this past Tuesday that Huntley-Hatfield's availability moving forward remains "day-to-day."

"We're hoping to get good news, but we're still just waiting to see and get all the information," he said. Payne did not disclose when Huntley-Hatfield suffered the injury.

Coming over from Tennessee this past offseason after spending his first year at the collegiate level with the Volunteers, the 6-foot-10, 250-pound big man has been inconsistent at times, but has also displayed flashes of brilliance up to this point of the season.

Starting all 17 of the games prior to last Saturday vs, UNC, he leads Louisville in rebounding at 6.0 boards per game, with his 7.5 points per game coming in at fourth, and his 47.6 shooting percentage trailing only Sydney Curry's 57.6 percent amongst players who average double-digit minutes played per game.

Huntley-Hatfield had a minor role at Tennessee through the first three months of the 2021-22 season, but was inserted into the starting rotation for the final 13 games of the season following a season-ending injury to Olivier Nkamhoua. He averaged 3.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game on 45.4 percent shooting in his lone season with the Vols.

The Clarksville, Tenn. native was a five-star prospect coming out of high school, and ranked as the No. 26 player in the nation according to the 247Sports Composite. He was formerly the No. 4 player in the Class of 2022, according to ESPN, before reclassifying to 2021.

Tipoff between the Cardinals (2-16, 0-7 ACC) and Panthers (12-6, 5-2 ACC) is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPN.

(Photo of Brandon Huntley-Hatfield: Matt Stone - Louisville Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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