Louisville basketball’s Pat Kelsey reflects on Mikel Brown Jr.’s return
Louisville coach Pat Kelsey reflects on Mikel Brown Jr.’s return to the lineup and his standout performance in the Cards’ 85-71 win over Virginia Tech.
- Louisville basketball sophomore forward Khani Rooths has been sidelined the past three games due to an illness.
- Last Thursday, coach Pat Kelsey said Rooths had been cleared to return to the Planet Fitness Kueber Center but not basketball activities.
- Will Rooths return to the court for UofL against No. 5 Duke on Monday at Cameron Indoor Stadium? Here’s what the latest ACC injury report says.
Will Louisville basketball sophomore forward Khani Rooths return from a three-game absence due to an illness for Monday night’s game at No. 5 Duke?
As of Sunday night, Rooths was listed as out for the 7 p.m. tipoff between the No. 21 Cardinals (14-5, 4-3 ACC) and the Blue Devils (18-1, 7-0) at Cameron Indoor Stadium, according to an initial injury report from the ACC.
One other UofL scholarship player joined Rooths on the report: Aly Khalifa (wrist), who was listed as probable. The redshirt senior center played 14 minutes of an 85-71 win against Virginia Tech over the weekend at the KFC Yum! Center, going for three points, five rebounds and three assists.
Last Thursday, coach Pat Kelsey told reporters Rooths had been cleared to return to the Planet Fitness Kueber Center but not basketball activities. After missing the previous two games entirely, the 6-foot-10 native of Washington, D.C., was on the bench for the win over the Hokies.
“He needs to eat a hamburger or two,” Kelsey joked last Thursday. “Eli (Foy) is working with him right now. … It’s great to see that big old smile and that energy that he brings to every room he walks into.”
Through 16 games (two starts), Rooths was averaging 6.1 points on 43.6% shooting (18.4% from 3) with 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals across 17.1 minutes per contest.
Duke had one player on Sunday night’s injury report: center Ifeanyi Ufochukwu, who suffered what proved to be a season-ending, noncontact knee injury in December.
The Blue Devils have won seven games in a row — including four straight since beating Louisville 84-73 on Jan. 6 at the Yum! Center.
The game between the Cards and the Blue Devils will air on ESPN, which is channel 602 on AT&T U-Verse; channel 206 on DirecTV; channel 140 on Dish; and channel 506 on Spectrum.
Dave O’Brien (play-by-play), Cory Alexander (analyst) and Jay Williams (analyst) will be on the call.
If you subscribe to a cable package, you’ll be able to livestream the game via ESPN.com and the ESPN app. If you don’t have cable, you can livestream the game via Fubo, which offers a free trial here.
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at [email protected] and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
