Brown Jr. Breaks ACC Freshman Scoring Record, Ties Program Record in 118-77 Rout of NC State

Monday, February 9

LOUISVILLE, KY

7 p.m.

University of Louisville

18-6,8-4ACC

118

NC State

18-7,9-3ACC

NC State

Louisville

118

Mikel Brown Jr. gets interviewed by ESPN surrounded by his teammates after the game against NC State at the KFC Yum Center on Feb 9.

Photo by: Nicole Finch | Louisville Athletics

Brown Jr. Breaks ACC Freshman Scoring Record, Ties Program Record in 118-77 Rout of NC State

February 09, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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Louisville torches the Wolfpack 118-77 while Mikel Brown Jr. and Ryan Conwell become the first duo in Cardinal history to score 30-plus points each

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Freshman guard Mikel Brown, Jr., tied a program with 45 points to lead the No. 24/23 University of Louisville men's basketball team to a 118-77 win over NC State on Monday at the KFC Yum Center.

With the win, the Cards improve to 18-6 on the season and 8-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference play while the Wolfpack snapped a six-game winning streak, dropping to 18-7 (9-3).

Brown established multiple records on the evening, including breaking the Atlantic Coast Conference freshman scoring of 42 points set by Cooper Flagg in a win over Notre Dame last season.

Brown also tied Wes Unseld's 59-year record when he tallied 45 against Georgetown College on Dec. 1, 1967.

In Monday's win, Brown connected on 14-of-23 shots from the field and tied another program mark with 10 3-pointers, equaling Reyne Smith's mark set in the 2025 season in a win over SMU. The freshman point guard went 7-of-7 from the charity stripe and rounded out his stat line with a career-high nine rebounds to go along with two assists and three steals.

Senior Ryan Conwell scored 31 points on 10-of-14 shooting including a 5-of-6 showing from 3-point range to give the Cardinals a pair of 30-point scorers for the first time in program history. The native of Indianapolis, Ind., narrowly missed topping his UofL high of 32 points set earlier in a season win over NJIT. Conwell also grabbed seven rebounds and matched a season high with six assists.

"Obviously, playing on that big Monday a couple weeks ago at Duke, we got beat like we stole something, and it was good on the national stage to play really well tonight," said UofL head coach Pat Kelsey. "Even after that butt-kicking, our guys didn't panic. They just continued to do what we do. They didn't listen to the thump, thump, thump, the noise, and the rat poison. We're not going to do it again after winning a big game tonight by a lot. So, I'm proud of these guys' approach and focus and they deserve victory tonight. They prepared great and they played great. Obviously, Kel [Mikel Brown, Jr.] and Ryan [Conwell] had a night that they're going to tell their grandkids about. I know a million records were broken. I'm just proud of those guys. I was tough on them after the Duke game. It sure wasn't all their fault. I coached bad, we played bad, and everybody on the roster played bad. But, I really challenged those guys as point guards, and it's been great to see them really involve their teammates."

Louisville scored a season high 118 points, its highest point total since defeating Morehead State 119-61 on Dec. 6, 1995. Additionally, the Cardinals shot 60% from the field and from behind the arc, accomplishing that feat for the first time since a win over Florida State during the 2018 season.

The Cards got the scoring started early when Isaac McKneely drained a 3-pointer just 33 seconds into the contest to open a 15-4 scoring run. Louisville pushed the lead to 20-7 before NC State battled back with a 13-5 run to trim the deficit to 25-20 midway through the first half. Louisville went on to outscore the Wolfpack 31-16 in the remainder of the half to take a 56-36 lead into the break.

In the first 20 minutes of play, Brown led all scorers with 21 points in 19 minutes behind 7-of-11 shooting including 5-of-7 from deep to go along with six rebounds. Conwell joined him in double figures with 10 points after going 3-of-6 from the field with a 3-pointer. As a team the Cardinals shot 58.1% (18-of-31) from the field and 83.3% (5-of-6) from beyond the arc and 83.3% from the free throw line.

Louisville's offensive onslaught continued into the second half with Conwell opening the frame with his second 3-pointer of the game, and Brown went on to score 11 points to propel the Cards to a 16-4 run to start the half. The Wolfpack countered with an 11-2 run to make the score 77-51 but would get no closer as the Cards would go on to increase their lead by as much as 41 in the game en route to their sixth game of the season with 100 or more points, and the 62 second-half points were the most since a win over Grand Canyon on Dec. 12, 2015.

NC State had three players reach double figures with Ven-Allen Lubin leading the way with 20 points, Tre Holloman adding 19 and Quadir Copeland finishing with 10. The Wolfpack shot 41.2% (28-of-68) from the field and 18.2% (4-of-22) from beyond the arc and held a 46-40 edge in points in the paint.

The Cardinals return to action in a non-conference neutral-site game against Baylor at the Dickies Center in Fort Worth, Texas at 4 p.m. EST.