Injury update for star Louisville guard vs. Michigan State on Saturday

A local Spartans beat reporter has confirmed No. 6 seed Louisville will be without one of its top players for Saturday's NCAA Tournament second round matchup against No. 3 seed Michigan State.

Connor Earegood of The Detroit News reported on Friday that Louisville star freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. confirmed he will not play on Saturday against the Spartans. It was reported earlier in the week that Brown would miss the entire opening weekend of games due to a lingering back injury, and Earegood got verbal confirmation on Friday that Brown will not play against Michigan State.

Louisville PG Mikel Brown Jr. tells me he is not playing vs. Michigan State tomorrow.

— Connor Earegood (@ConnorEaregood) March 20, 2026 Brown is second on the Cardinals in scoring with 18. 2 points per game this season, but missed a big chunk of time in the middle of the season and hasn't played since late February. Louisville has gone 8-5 in the games Brown has missed this year, including a narrow win over No.