LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The crowd was gone. The music was off. The lights still hummed. And on the floor, with a few managers rebounding for him, was Mikel Brown Jr.
The freshman everyone came to see was still shooting. Floaters, threes, pull-ups. The same shots that clanged, rolled and rimmed out a couple hours earlier now whispered through the net like they remembered who they were supposed to be.
Arena workers stood around. Some were already folding up seats. Everyone was waiting to tear the place down for the next event. The scoreboard still read Kansas 90, Louisville 82. It might as well have been blinking Lesson Learned. But Brown wasn’t checking the score. He was checking himself.
That’s where the story of this Louisville team begins: in the quiet, not the crowd. On a floor that was supposed to be closing, with a kid not ready to leave it.
This was supposed to be a coronation. The No. 11 team in the country. Highest preaseaon rankings since 2019. A crowd of 15,585. A backcourt full of experience. A freshman whose name had trended on social media before he played a college minute. Instead, it was an introduction. Kansas came to town and reminded Louisville what the deep end looks like, complete with bright lights and tight closeouts.
The Cardinals didn’t drown, but they swallowed some water. They turned it over 21 times. Bricked open threes like the rim had a restraining order. And watched Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson torch the first half for 24 points like he’d borrowed the remote control to the universe.
Peterson’s poise didn’t help Brown’s nerves. Brown fired up his first 3-pointer five seconds into the game. A player who’d been the picture of patience during the FIFA U-19 World Cup in Switzerland this summer now looked like he was chasing highlights instead of letting them come to him.
He took rushed shots. Off-balance shots. He drove, got bumped, failed to finish.
It wasn’t his game. It wasn’t really even his personality. It happens. Meanwhile, Peterson made everything. He barely broke a sweat. Brown was laboring.
The final stat line told the story: 10 points, 2-for-15 from the field, 2-for-10 from three.
Not a night to remember — but probably one he won’t forget.
Ryan Conwell, who led Louisville with 26 points and took 21 shots out of necessity, not selfishness, had words for the freshman.
“Just keep your head,” he said. “Basketball is a game of ups and downs. Days like this are going to happen, but it’s all about how you respond. You have two choices. You can put your head down and mope, or you can learn and grow. And I know that’s what he’s going to do. He’s a great player, and we believe in him every step of the way.”
Louisville's Mikel Brown drives during the second half of the Cardinals' loss to Kansas.
When head coach Pat Kelsey was asked if he needed to lift Brown up, he didn’t hesitate.
“He’ll be fine,” he said. “Mikel’s a great player and a terrific talent, and all I've talked about and raved about is his approach and his mentality and his professionalism. This is what we preach every day: If you stay steady in the daily excellence, great things are going to happen. And that kid's future is like — bright doesn't even describe it. He knows he didn't have his best night tonight, but he's an unbelievable player, and he's going to have a terrific year.”
As for the team, Kelsey felt similarly. Louisville shot just 33.3 percent from the field. The coach said he’d need to look at the tape before passing judgment on the quality of shots they got.
He said the team began to let missed offense affect its defense, and that disappointed him. Kansas shot 50 percent and outscored Louisville 34-20 in the paint.
Perhaps the clearest takeaway: Louisville will need more from its interior — at both ends — than it got Friday. Kasean Pryor, who sat out as he rehabs a knee injury, may spend more time at the five than originally expected.
Aly Khalifa did what he does well — pass the ball. He also hit an early three to ignite a 12-0 Louisville run. Kobe Rodgers helped spark that stretch, as did Khani Rooths.
Regardless, it’s a team that’s perhaps less ready out of the box than originally thought. Some assembly is still required. It’s nothing most teams haven’t encountered.
“That’s what these early games and scrimmages are all about — finding things out about your team, the strengths and the weaknesses and things that need to be fixed,” Kelsey said. “We have some tonight and we now have a great teaching tool that I am excited to dive into right away. … We will use this as a tool to get better. I told the guys, one thing they don’t have to worry about is that our team is going to be really, really good. We will get better because of the things we learn from the tapes. We will look back at this and be able to be good really quick.”
Some quicker than others, maybe.
For Brown, fixing things began as soon as the postgame talk ended. You can say, for seven-figure compensation, he'd better be out there. I could say, no matter his pay, he didn't have to be.
Now, seeing the workers massing around the court, he talked to the managers and others with him. Vangelis Zougris, who had been out shooting with him earlier, had left. Brown checked his phone. Put the ball back on the rack. No need to delay crews from their work.
He walked toward the tunnel and out of the arena.
Probably in search of another gym.
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