Cardinals Soar Over Hokies 85-71

Saturday, January 24

LOUISVILLE, KY

2:15 p.m.

University of Louisville

Virginia Tech

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Mikel brown Jr. celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer

January 24, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes Pat Kelsey Press Conference Player Press Conference

Louisville freshman Mikel Brown Jr. returns after missing eight games, leads Cardinals in scoring with 21 points

By: Erin Hughes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 23/21-ranked University of Louisville men's basketball team defeated Virginia Tech 85-71 on Saturday afternoon inside the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cards improve to 14-5, with a 4-3 mark in conference play, and the Hokies fall to 15-6 and 4-4 in the ACC.

"I've got a ton of respect for [Virginia Tech] Coach Young. As I told you guys the other day in the press conference, he was good friends with my mentor, Skip Prosser," said head coach Pat Kelsey. "He reminds me a lot of him - just such a high character guy; hilarious, one of the funniest coaches in the country, one of the funniest people I know; and then, just an extraordinary coach [and] tactician. I just have a lot of respect for him, so we are fortunate to get the win tonight. The biggest thing I want to talk about in my pre-statement is 15,000 people - or whatever it was - just a huge crowd with all this weather. I challenged everybody in my press conference the other day that we really needed you, and Card Nation came out strong. To the people listening to this on the radio or whatever it is: drive safe. My parents are on their way up I-71 to Cincinnati, but it just means a lot that they came out. They had a major effect on the game."

As a team, UofL shot 47% on the game, going 31-of-66 from the field and 13-of-33 from three-point range. Louisville totaled 29 rebounds, including 15 offensive boards, and went 10-of-13 at the free throw line.

In his first game back from injury, Mikel Brown Jr. led UofL with 20 points, including three makes from deep and three shots from the charity stripe. Sananda Fru logged his third double-double of the season, totaling 13 points and 10 rebounds. J'Vonne Hadley and Ryan Conwell were the other double-digit scores in the win, tabbing 14 and 15 points, respectively. Hadley went a perfect 3-for-3 at the line, and Conwell sank four 3s in the matchup.

Virginia Tech's Jailen Bedford led all scorers with 24 points and made six of eight shots from three-point range. The Hokies shot 40.3% overall, including a 16-for-30 mark from beyond the arc.

Brown Jr. opened the game with a three in his first start back off an offensive rebound by Fru. VT grabbed a steal and a layup to get on the board before defense from both teams kept scoring below double-digits until the under-12 minute timeout.

After trading points, a shot clock violation by the Hokies allowed Conwell to knock down a three and punch in a layup to put the Cards ahead 18-14 with 8:24 left to play. Louisville remained in the lead, pulling ahead 24-19 after a made free throw from Fru.

UofL went on a 14-3 run that elapsed 3:54 to finish out the half. The run was highlighted by threes from Adrian Wooley and Conwell, an and-1 from Hadley and a dunk by Brown Jr. Vangelis Zougris stuffed a big block at the net to close out the first 20 minutes with a 37-22 lead for the Cards. Louisville entered the break with nine offensive rebounds, including five from Fru, and 15 second chance points.

Fru got the scoring started in the second half with a layup on the first possession. UofL took its largest lead of the day with 13 minutes remaining, leading 53-35 after a steal and dunk from Kobe Rodgers.

VT continued to add on but could not get any closer than a 10-point gap. Isaac McKneely, Aly Khalifa, Brown Jr., Conwell and Hadley all connected from deep in the second half, and the quartet of Brown Jr., Hadley, Conwell and Fru all made shots from the charity stripe.

A dunk from Fru and a three-pointer by Hadley marked Louisville's final scores of the game. Virginia Tech added two more points on a jumper, but the Cards ran the clock down in the final seconds to seal the 85-71 win.

Louisville will have a quick turnaround when it hits the road to face Duke on Monday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.