NCAA basketball: Louisville head coach suffers bizarre finger injury

Sometimes it can even be hard to win.

Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball head coach Pat Kelsey learned the hard way Tuesday night when he tried to avoid the postgame celebration after their win over the Kentucky Wildcats.

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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 tried to avoid his assistant coaches bullying him after the win across the arena.

“Now I’m 50, but I’ve got some wheels,” he said. “There’s a curtain separating the two halves of the pitch and I try to get through but my finger gets caught on something.”

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Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey walked into the Cardinal student section after the Cards beat the Cats 96-88 in the UofL-UK annual rivalry game at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky November 11, 2025. (Matt Stone/Courier Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Kelsey said his finger was bent almost 90 degrees, but was unsure if it was broken. A team doctor helped him reset the finger.

“There’s so much adrenaline going on in my body right now that I didn’t feel anything,” he said.

Louisville’s win over Kentucky is one of their biggest in recent years. Kelsey took 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 shouts instructions to his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky in Louisville, Kentucky, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

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Louisville had lost 14 of its last 17 against Kentucky before Tuesday’s win.