Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr. out for first two NCAA Tournament games due to back issue

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Louisville will open the NCAA Tournament without star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. because of a nagging back injury, the school announced Wednesday.

Besides Brown missing Louisville’s first-round game against South Florida on Thursday, the Cardinals said the guard would not be available if the team advances to play on Saturday.

“I just don’t feel 100%,” Brown said in the locker room. “I don’t feel like I can play to our standard.”

Brown missed the past four games — including two Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament outings, ending with Louisville’s 78-73 loss to Miami in the quarterfinal round.

“The goal was to have Mikel available for the NCAA Tournament; unfortunately that is not the case,” the school said.

“We’re just not there,” Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said, crediting the team’s medical staff for doing everything in its power to get Brown ready to play.

Brown is considered a top-end NBA prospect should he decide to declare for the draft. The back problem is a recurrence of an issue that forced him to miss eight games earlier this season.

Louisville (23-10) is the East Region’s No. 6 seed, making its second tournament appearance in seven years.

“This is what you dream of as a kid to play in these type of environments,” Brown said. “But my health does come first, as the staff told me, and my people told me.”

The 6-foot-5 Brown ranks second on the team by averaging 18.2 points per game. He matched Wes Unseld’s school record by scoring 45 points in a 118-77 win over N.C. State in February.

“I’ve been working out doing a lot of physical stuff, bumping, guarding, sprints up and down the floor,” Brown said. “I’ve been working my tail off in the training room, working hours and hours a day. It’s just taking its slow, precious time.”