NCAA Releases Preliminary Injury Report for Louisville vs. USF

The Cardinals take on the Bulls to kick off their run in the NCAA Tournament.

Louisville Cardinals guard Mikel Brown Jr. (0) was unfazed after he scored 45 points with 10-for-16 3-point shooting as the Cards roll past NC State 118-77 at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville February 9, 2026. | Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It's almost time to start dancing. The bracket for the NCAA Tournament has been set, and the Louisville men's basketball program will attempt to capture their first tournament win since 2017 - and potential more.

First on the docket for the Cardinals, having clinched the No. 6 seed for the NCAA Tournament, they're traveling to Buffalo, N.Y. to get their run started against 11th-seeded South Florida. Tip-off against the Bulls from the KeyBank Center is scheduled for Thursday, Mar. 19 at 1:30 p.m. EST.

With the matchup less than 24 hours away, we have our first inclination as to who could play, and will not. On Wednesday night, the NCAA released the first availability report for Louisville's matchup vs. USF. An updated report will also be released two hours before tip-off.

On Louisville's end, as expected, star point guard Mikel Brown Jr. was designated as "out" on the first report. He has missed the last four games due to a lingering lower back injury, and UofL announced earlier in the day that he would indeed miss their NCAA Tournament opener.

Earlier in the season, the star true freshman point guard for the Cardinals had missed eight straight games due to the injury, and re-aggravated it in the game against North Carolina on Feb. 23. It had a notable impact on his availability and efficiency in the game at Clemson on Feb. 28, as he did not start against the Tigers and logged only five points, four assists and two rebounds in 21 minutes. He would then go on to miss the final two games of the regular season, and Louisville's two ACC Tournament games.

In the five games prior to the Clemson game, Brown was playing at an All-American caliber level, putting up 29.2 points, 4.8 assists and 3.2 assists per game, and shooting 52.2 percent from the field plus a blazing 54.0 percent on three-point tries. Playing in 21 games and making 19 starts this season, the 6-foot-5, 190-pound point guard is putting 18.2 points, 4.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

Below is the full report for both sides:

NCAA's Initial Availability Report for Louisville vs. USF

Louisville Cardinals

OUT

• #0 Mikel Brown

QUESTIONABLE

• N/A

South Florida Bulls

OUT

• N/A

QUESTIONABLE

• #0 Xavier Brown
• #1 De'Ante Green

(Photo of Kasean Pryor, Mikel Brown Jr.: Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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