Louisville HC Pat Kelsey suffered a gnarly injury while celebrating win

The Louisville men’s basketball team beat in-state rival Kentucky on Tuesday night for the first time in more than four years, and Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey celebrated so hard he was left with a nasty injury.

Louisville, the No. 12 team in the country, snapped their losing streak against No. 9 Kentucky with a 96-88 win at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. The win was the first for the Cardinals over Kentucky since Dec. 26, 2020. It was also the first time Louisville has beaten Kentucky when the Wildcats were nationally ranked since Dec. 21, 2016.

Following the game, Kelsey arrived at his press conference with two fingers on his right hand heavily bandaged. He sheepishly explained what happened.

“I don’t know if it’s broken, but I dislocated my finger,” Kelsey said. “It was (facing) 90 degrees. Doc was right there and he came over and yanked that sucker back into place. I tell our guys all the time, rub a little dirt on it.”

Kelsey said the injury occurred during a postgame celebration in Louisville’s practice gym. He said players began chasing him when he walked into the room, so he was trying to outrun them. Kelsey explained that he was trying to run through a curtain that separates two of the courts when his finger got caught.