LOUISVILLE, KY - FEBRUARY 09: Louisville Cardinals guard Mikel Brown Jr. (0) acknowledges his team mate in the first half of play during a men's college basketball game between the NC State Wolfpack and the Louisville Cardinals on February 09, 2026 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY.

Brown breaks Flagg's ACC freshman scoring record in Louisville's win

The Associated Press

3 months ago

Icon Sportswire / Getty

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Mikel Brown Jr. had 10 3-pointers and scored an Atlantic Coast Conference freshman single-game record 45 points as No. 24 Louisville routed N.C. State 118-77 on Monday night.

Ryan Conwell added 31 and the Cardinals (18-6, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) shot 60% for the game.

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 on Dec. 1, 1967, against Georgetown College.

Mikel Brown Jr. made HISTORY tonight 🤩

A 45-piece at home to eclipse Cooper Flagg's single-game scoring record for an ACC freshman 🔥 pic.twitter.com/K5GtlQUWJY
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) February 10, 2026

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.

Brown's record-tying 3 came 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.

He finished 14 of 23 from the field with a career-best 10 of 16 from beyond the arc, topping his previous best of 29 points against rival Kentucky in November. That had ranked fourth-best all time among Louisville freshmen coming in.

Louisville started off 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 19 for N.C. State (18-7, 9-3), which had won six in a row and entered 6-0 in ACC road games. The Wolfpack shot 41% and made just 18% from deep.

Conwell hit 10 of 14 shots and 5 of 6 from behind the arc.

Up next

N.C. State: Hosts Miami on Saturday.

Louisville: Takes on Baylor on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.

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