University of Louisville
19-6,8-4ACC
Baylor
13-12,3-9Big 12
Cardinals Muscle 82-71 Win Over Baylor in Non-Con Finale
February 14, 2026 | Men's Basketball
Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. and J’Vonne Hadley combined for 49 of the Cardinals’ 82 points
FT. WORTH, Texas – Mikel Brown Jr. poured in 29 points to lead the No. 24/23 University of Louisville men's basketball team to an 82-71 win over Baylor in a non-conference neutral site Saturday evening at Dickies Arena.
"I'm proud of our guys, proud of [J'Vonne Hadley]. He's one of the best leaders that I've ever coached," said UofL head coach Pat Kelsey. "He's one of those guys that you count down the days in a sad way that you know the end is coming eventually, hopefully it's in the national championship game… He's got all the right stuff, phenomenal leader, I thought he really got us going in the second half. We were overdribbling, we were struggling to get into a rhythm offensively, we really started playing inside-out and it started with him. We threw it to him in the post, got him downhill, some pick and rolls to exploit mismatches and it really got us going. This [Baylor] is a few physical team, a very good offensive rebounding team, one of the best in the country. We could have been better in that regard, but the three big guys that we focused on were [Toun Yessoufou, Cameron Carr and Obi Agbim] and they were a combined 6-for-34 from the field. We fouled too much, but overall I was proud of that defensive effort. Fortunate to get the win, now we've got to flip the switch from this non-conference, neutral site type game and get our minds right back into the guts of conference play in a couple of days."
With their fifth straight win, the Cardinals improve to 19-6 on the season while the Bears drop to 13-12.
One game after tying Louisville's program scoring record with 45 points, Brown followed up with another impressive performance, becoming only the third freshman in school history to record three games with at least 25 points. Against Baylor, Brown led all scorers with his 29 points, going 4-of-5 from 3-point range and 8-of-14 from the field to go along with a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. He also dished out six assists and a career-high five steals.
J'Vonne Hadley added 20 points, going 7-of-10 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, 4-of-4 from the free throw line and collected five rebounds. Ryan Conwell also finished in double figures with 14 points to go along with four assists and four rebounds.
Baylor jumped out to a 4-0 lead to start the game before Sananda Fru opened the scoring for the Cards with a dunk, opening a 10-2 run that included 3-pointers by Ryan Conwell and Mikel Brown Jr. as well as another Fru bucket to give Louisville a 10-6 lead entering the first media timeout.
The teams traded baskets before the Cards surged to their largest lead of the half at 23-16. The Bears responded with a 16-2 run over the next 5:03 to take their largest lead at 32-25 entering the final media timeout of the half. Louisville closed the half with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 34-34 while holding Baylor to 0-for-6 shooting from the field in the final 3:37.
Brown led all scorers with 14 first-half points, shooting 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. In the first 20 minutes, the Cards shot 48% (13-of-27) from the field including 46% (6-of-13) from 3-point range. Baylor went 15-of-15 from the charity strip while Brown connected on both of Louisville's free throw attempts.
Coming out of the break, Louisville outscored Baylor 14-7 to go up 48-41 entering the under-16 media timeout. The Cards would not relinquish their lead for the rest of the game despite a late push by the Bears.
An 11-2 run brought the score to 59-44, giving the Cardinals their largest lead of the contest at 15, but the Bears responded with five unanswered points to pull within 10. The Cardinals pushed their margin back to as many as 14 points, but Baylor continued to chip away using an 8-3 run to trim the deficit to nine points at 66-57 with 7:05 left to play.
The Bears pulled within nine again twice more in the game, the final time coming with 3:58 on the clock, but Baylor would get no closer as Brown connected on a jumper and to push the lead back to double digits. Louisville outscored Baylor 7-5 down the stretch for the 82-71 win.
In the game, Louisville shot 56% (28-of-50) from the field and 44% (8-of-18) from 3-point range while holding Baylor to 37% shooting (22-60) and 9% (2-of-22) from deep. The Bears held a 30-29 edge in rebounding leading 15-6 on the offensive glass, but the Cards led 9-7 in second chance points and 40-36 in points in the paint. Louisville shot 90% (18-of-20) from the free throw line while Baylor shot 83% (25-of-30).
Baylor had three players finish the game in double figures with Isaac Williams leading the way with 20 behind 8-of-12 shooting. Toun Yessoufou registered 16 points while Michael Rataj added 11.
"A lot of questions leading into this about why do you play a game like this. I felt like everything leading up to the game starting with we arrive at the hotel and we came in this morning for game preparation, it felt very much like postseason play," said Pat Kelsey. "This is a beautiful venue, just an awesome place. It smells like cattle, because they've had the rodeo here for the last 24 days, but it's a beautiful venue. And all the protocol that we have in the tournament we had this morning – a very strict amount of time on the clock, you can't touch the ball – all the postseason places you play in the NCAA tournament and the ACC tournament are gorgeous venues like this one, neutral site. I kept telling myself this is really cool, because it is when we get there in several, whenever that is, it's good preparation. It's a long trip, we're gone for five days. My hope and prayer is that our guys, during this five days continue to come together and grow our bond even stronger."
Louisville will stay on the road to face SMU in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game will air on ESPN2.
