LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Mikel Brown Jr. had 10 3-pointers and scored an ACC freshman single-game record 45 points as No. 24 Louisville routed NC State 118-77 on Monday night.
Ryan Conwell added 31 points, and the Cardinals (18-6, 8-4) shot 60% for the game. Their 118 points were their most in a conference game in program history and most in any game since scoring 119 in a rout of Morehead State on Dec. 6, 1995.
Brown eclipsed the previous ACC freshman record of 42 points, set last season by Duke’s Cooper Flagg. The 45 points also tied Hall of Famer Wes Unseld’s single-game Louisville scoring mark, set Dec. 1, 1967, against Georgetown College.
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After up-and-down scoring outputs in five games since returning from a lower back injury, the heralded freshman guard had 21 points with five 3s by halftime before erasing LaBradford Smith’s school freshman mark of 32 midway through the second half.
Brown’s 10 3-pointers also were a freshman ACC record. He tied that mark with 2:09 remaining, bringing a huge cheer from a white-clad crowd of 14,389 eager to see if he’d approach Unseld’s school mark.
Brown finished 14-of-23 from the field, topping his previous best of 29 points against rival Kentucky in November. That had ranked fourth best all time among Louisville freshmen before Monday’s game.
Louisville started hot and didn’t cool off much, shooting 58% in the first half and finishing 39-of-65 overall. The Cardinals’ total included 18 3-pointers on 30 attempts, tying their second-highest output this season.
Ven-Allen Lubin had 20 points, and Tre Holloman added 19 for NC State, which had won six in a row and entered 6-0 in ACC road games. The Wolfpack (18-7, 9-3) shot 41% and made just 18% from deep.
Conwell hit 10 of 14 shots and 5 of 6 from behind the arc.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
