CRAWFORD | Brown returns for Louisville. Resume your previously scheduled expectations | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Without Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville has a good backcourt. Deep, experienced and tough. But with him? It might have the best in the country.

Ryan Conwell leads the team in scoring. Adrian Wooley is improving. Isaac McKneely is capable of shooting opponents into next week.

But Brown is the one who makes the picture clear.

He doesn’t dominate the ball. He clarifies it. He doesn’t steal the spotlight. He refracts it. He’s the missing variable that turns a hard equation into one Louisville just might be able to solve.

Saturday afternoon, in his first game since Dec. 13, Brown returned from a back injury, and so did Louisville’s clarity of purpose.

He scored 20. Handed out six assists. And looked like he hadn’t missed a day, let alone eight games, in an 85-71 win over a Virginia Tech team that hadn’t lost an ACC game by more than three coming in.

“He brings a whole different dynamic,” Conwell said.

Translation: We were good. But this? This is something else.

The Cardinals hit 13 threes. They dropped 17 assists. They dominated Virginia Tech in the paint, on the glass, and in transition. And all of it — the rhythm, the spacing, the belief — felt like something restored.

Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said it was their most paint touches in a half all year. The ball zipped like it had something to prove. And for the first time since Memphis, Louisville looked like the team that climbed into Top 10 and started fans dreaming.

This wasn't an opponent that just wilted. Virginia Tech made 16 threes. And still lost by 14.

Louisville was plus-14 with Brown on the court. It played even with Virginia Tech with him off it. First game back, he showed his worth.

Kelsey wasn’t surprised.

“Nothing surprises me with that kid,” Kelsey said. “He’s unbelievably talented, and he just played to exhaustion today.”

Still, Kelsey acknowledged the moment. The freshman phenom who hadn’t played in more than a month — who had ramped up in practice, suffered a setback, then ramped up again — looked as poised and fluid as ever.

“We built him up,” Kelsey said. “With the long week off, we practiced him a little more each day. By the end of the week he looked great. … He never asks to come out, but we got him some blows. He needed it. He made big-time plays for us. It was great to see him out there again.”

Brown hit a three-pointer less than a minute into the game. More than 15,000 had braved bitter cold and frightening forecasts to see his return, and he gave them what they came for.

“The adrenaline definitely hit me immediately,” Brown said. “Just that time off, man, it made me really value the opportunity that I'm in, and the opportunity of where I am today. Not a lot of people are in the position that I am, and to be able to hit that shot and on that stage, you know, day in and day out, I definitely get an adrenaline rush. It was so great to be back. I feel so great to be back.”

The back injury — which sidelined him for eight games — had been frustrating. “It was tough watching. I just wanted to be out there.” Brown said.

Once he was, so much opened up. Transition lanes. Weak-side cuts. The playbook. The possibilities.

Louisville had its floor general back. Its equation-solver. Its most important piece, refitted, rebooted, and running like he never left.

Next up: Duke.

A trip that was once a test of survival now becomes a chance to test ceilings. Because with Brown in uniform, Louisville doesn’t have to dream. It can measure.

They still have to figure out how to beat elite teams.

But it’s a far easier puzzle to solve when you have your most important piece.

Mikel Brown Jr. returned Thursday. And with him, Louisville’s regularly scheduled expectations.