Feb 23, 2026; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Mikel Brown Jr. (0) passes the ball as North Carolina Tar Heels center Henri Veesaar (13) defends in the second half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images It’s safe to say Pat Kelsey’s second season at Louisville hasn’t gone entirely to plan.
Yes, the Cardinals are back in the NCAA Tournament, earning the No. 6 seed in the East Region. But expectations were higher for the team, which was picked to finish second in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season.
A big part of those hopes fell on star freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr., who has been incredibly effective but has missed 12 games due to a back injury.
After Brown missed last week’s ACC tournament, it remains to be seen if he’ll be available on Thursday afternoon when Louisville (23-10) faces No. 11 seed South Florida (25-8) in Buffalo, N.Y.
“He made great progress last week,” Kelsey said Monday. “We’ll see how the next couple days of practice go.”
Brown, who averages 18.2 points and a team-high 4.7 assists per game, is a catalyst for the Cardinals. Louisville is 16-5 and averages 88.1 in games he’s played in and is 7-5 and averaging 81.7 ppg in games he’s missed.
The Bulls, meanwhile, have rallied from tragedy for a remarkable season. The program hired Bryan Hodgson from Arkansas State last March after previous head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, 43, died due to complications during a medical procedure in October 2024.
Hodgson has led South Florida to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012. The Bulls enter on an 11-game winning streak, with their last loss coming on Jan. 31 at Temple. Six of their last seven wins have come by at least 15 points, but Hodgson said he isn’t satisfied with what he’s seen.
“I think we could still play a little bit better. Put together elite performances on both sides of the ball,” he said Monday. “We’ll need to do that on Thursday to beat Louisville.”
Division II transfer Wes Enis is coming into his own at the Division I level entering the postseason. He’s scored at least 19 points in each of the last five games to claim the South Florida team lead at 16.8 points per contest. Izaiyah Nelson, who followed Hodgson from Arkansas State, is close behind at 15.7 ppg to go with 9.6 rebounds per game.
Enis, despite being new to this level, isn’t lacking in confidence.
“I don’t think it’s an upset. I think we’re the better team,” Enis said of South Florida’s potential as an underdog. “I don’t really care what (the seeds) say.”
Even with Brown questionable, Louisville is not lacking in talent. Ryan Conwell averages a team-high 18.7 points a game, J’Vonne Hadley (11.8 ppg) is a 45.6% 3-point shooter, and Isaac McKneely (10.6 ppg) brings postseason experience from his three seasons at Virginia.
With the Bulls and Cardinals both ranking in the top 20 nationally in scoring and average offensive possession length, these teams’ run-and-gun styles should bring a frenetic pace to Thursday’s matchup.
“I think we’re ready for that challenge because we like to get up and down (the court) too,” McKneely said. “I think that’ll favor us, getting to play at our pace.”
This will be the first matchup between the former American Athletic Conference opponents since February 2014. Louisville leads the all-time series 29-4.
The Cardinals are looking for their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2017, while the Bulls most recently had one in 2012.
–Field Level Media
