Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. tied the Louisville single-game scoring mark with 45 points and tied another single-game record with 10 3-pointers to lead the No. 24 Cardinals to a 118-77 win over visiting North Carolina State on Monday night.
Louisville (18-6, 8-4) never trailed as Brown produced 21 points with five 3-pointers to stake the Cardinals to a 56-36 halftime lead before topping that total with five more 3-pointers in the second half.
He finished 14 of 23 from the field, 10 of 16 on 3-point attempts and 7-for-7 at the line while adding nine rebounds, three steals and two assists in 34 minutes. Ryan Conwell added 31 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Cardinals while going 5-for-6 from 3-point range.
When Brown hit his final 3-pointer with 2:09 to play — a swish from nearly 30 feet away — he tied Wes Unseld’s single-game record set against Georgetown (Ky.) College on Dec. 1, 1967. Brown’s 10 3-pointers tied the school record set by Reyne Smith last season against SMU.
Louisville coach Pat Kelsey then called timeout to remove Brown from the game.
Louisville opened the game on a 7-0 run. NC State pulled within 25-20 on a Quadir Copeland dunk with 10:58 left in the first half.
Louisville then answered with a 10-2 run and NC State never pulled within single digits after that run which included 3-pointers from Ryan Conwell and Brown.
Louisville racked up its sixth 100-plus scoring effort on the year. No Cardinal other than Brown and Conwell reached double figures, but Louisville shot 60% overall (39-for-65) and 60% from 3-point range (18-for-30).
NC State (18-7, 9-3) saw the end of a six-game winning streak as the Wolfpack allowed more than 85 points for just the second time this season. The Wolfpack were led by Ven-Allen Lubin’s 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Tre Holloman added 19 points and Copeland tallied 10.
The Wolfpack shot just 4-for-22 (18.2%) from 3-point range and were outrebounded 42-28.
