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Sometimes even winning has detrimental consequences.
Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball head coach Pat Kelsey learned the hard way Tuesday night as he tried to avoid the postgame celebratory din after their win over the Kentucky Wildcats.
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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 the KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. (Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
The No. 12 Cardinals defeated the No. 9 Wildcats 96-88 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.
He entered his postgame media availability with his right middle finger in a splint. He said he was trying to avoid his assistant coaches from harassing him after the win on the other side of the arena.
“Now I’m 50, but I have wheels,” he said. “There’s a curtain separating the two halves of the pitch and I try to get through it, but my finger gets stuck in something.”
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Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey entered the Cardinals student section after the Cards defeated the Cats 96-88 in the annual UofL-UK rivalry game at the KFC Yum! Louisville Center, Kentucky, November 11, 2025. (Matt Stone/Courier Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Kelsey said his finger was bent almost 90 degrees, but he didn’t know if it was broken. A team doctor helped him reset the finger.
“There’s so much adrenaline in my body right now that I didn’t feel anything,” he said.
Louisville’s victory against Kentucky is one of the most important in recent years. Kelsey took over the Cardinals as head coach after the team went 8-24 under Kenny Payne during 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 yells instructions to his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
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Louisville had lost 14 of its last 17 games against Kentucky before Tuesday’s victory.
