Louisville PG Mikel Brown Jr. Named National Player of the Week

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Unsurprisingly, Mikel Brown Jr. is starting to earn national recognition for his blistering play this past week.

The point guard for the Louisville men's basketball program has been named the Naismith Men’s College Player of the Week, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Monday.

The 6-foot-5, 190-pound guard was an electric playmaker on both ends of the floor this past week. Against NC State and Baylor, Brown averaged 37.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assist and 4.0 steals, while shooting 22-of-37 from the floor, a blazing 14-of-21 percent on three-point attempts, and a perfect 16-of-16 at the free throw line.

In the 118-77 victory against the Wolfpack last Monday, Brown re-wrote the record book. He finished with 45 points on 14-of-23 shooting and 10-of-16 on threes, as well as nine rebounds, three steals and two assists.

He not only broke the ACC freshman single-game scoring record previously held by Duke's Cooper Flagg (42 vs. Notre Dame last season), but tied the UofL single-game scoring and made threes records. Wes Unseld set the scoring record back on Dec. 1, 1967 vs. Georgetown College, while Reyne Smith set the made threes record just last season at SMU on Jan. 21, 2025.

Brown followed up that historic performance with an impressive effort in an 82-71 win against the Bears this past Saturday. He tallied 29 points, six assists, five steals and three rebounds.

Despite missing eight games due to a lower back injury and having some streakiness as a shooter, Brown has been a bonafide playmaker this year. In 17 games and 16 starts, he is averaging 17.9 points, 5.1 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game, shooting 40.5 percent from the field and 33.6 percent on three-point attempts.

Louisville will be back in action this Tuesday when they head to Dallas for an in-season rematch with SMU. Tip-off against the Mustangs is set for Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

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