NCAA basketball: Louisville head coach suffers bizarre finger injury
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Sometimes even winning has a price.
That’s what Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball head coach Pat Kelsey learned the hard way when he tried to avoid postgame celebratory brawls after their win over the Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday night.
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Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey didn’t like a call in the second half as the Louisville Cardinals hosted the Kentucky Wildcats at KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. (Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
No. 12 Cardinals, KFC Yum! Defeated the No. 9 Wildcats 96-88 in the tournament. headquarters in Louisville.
He entered the postgame media availability with his right middle finger splinted. He said he tried to stop assistant coaches from attacking him on the other side of the field after the victory.
“I’m 50 now, but I’ve got some wheels,” he said. “There is a curtain separating the two halves of the field and I try to pass through it, but my finger gets stuck on something.”
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Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey entered the Cardinal student section after the Cards beat the Cats 96-88 in the UofL-UK annual rivalry game at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky November 11, 2025. (Matt Stone/Courier Journal / Imagn Images via USA TODAY NETWORK)
Kelsey said her finger was bent about 90 degrees, but she wasn’t sure if it was broken. A team doctor helped him reset his finger.
“I have so much adrenaline in my body right now that I didn’t feel a thing,” he said.
Louisville’s win over Kentucky is one of its biggest in recent years. Kelsey takes over as head coach of the Cardinals after the team went 8-24 under Kenny Payne in the 2023-24 season.
The Cardinals were 27-8 last year and made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2018-19 season.
Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey gives instructions to his team during the first half of the NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, in Louisville, Kentucky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
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Before Tuesday’s win, Louisville had lost 14 of its last 17 games against Kentucky.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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