Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr. will not play on Saturday against No. 22 Miami, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Brown missed Louisville’s win over Syracuse on Tuesday as well due to back pain.

Brown is averaging 18.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game, while shooting 41.0% from the field and 34.4% from beyond the arc. While Brown has excelled when healthy, he’s missed nine games for the Cardinals this season.

Louisville is 5-4 in Brown’s nine absences. Louisville’s showdown against Miami on Saturday could have significant implications for the conference tournament.

The Hurricanes are currently third in the ACC standings. However, they are only one win behind Virginia and one win ahead of North Carolina. Brown will hope to recover before the ACC Tournament begins.

Despite Mikel Brown’s injury issues, he is widely expected to be a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. In ESPN’s latest mock draft, Brown was projected to be the No. 6 overall pick.

“Brown’s upside as a tough perimeter shotmaker and playmaker with plus positional size will keep him in the lottery mix, but his defensive play and streaky shooting (26.8% from 3) have created some lingering questions for him to answer,” ESPN’s Jeremy Woo wrote.

Earlier this week, Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey said Brown wanted to play against Syracuse, but the team decided to rest him to get him ready for the postseason. Evidently, the Cardinals made a similar decision ahead of tomorrow’s game.

“When he’s 100%, jeez-o-Pete,” Kelsey said, per the Courier Journal. “You guys have seen him; he’s special. He just hasn’t been 100% those last couple (games). He’s been gutting it out — wanting to be out there for his teammates — but we just need him at 100%.”

Kelsey believes Mikel Brown’s lingering back pain could be due to the hits he takes while driving to the rim. In fact, Kelsey cautioned his freshman standout about absorbing so much punishment.

“It’s something I’ve been talking to him about: falling less,” Kelsey said. “He drives so courageously to the rim. He takes some hits, too. I probably shouldn’t say this, but he probably deserves more calls than some of the ones he gets. But that’s part of being a freshman, I guess — maybe earning your stripes.”

Louisville and Miami will face off at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday. The game will air live on ESPNU.