Another big game for freshman Mikel Brown Jr. as No. 24 Louisville beats Baylor 82-71

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Mikel Brown Jr. had a part of every point during Louisville’s go-ahead run early in the second half as the standout freshman followed up his historic game with 29 points and six assists in the No. 24 Cardinals’ 82-71 win over Baylor on Saturday.

The Cardinals (19-6) went ahead to stay with an 11-3 run that started when Brown had the assist on J’Vonne Hadley’s basket with 18:20 left to snap a 39-all tie. Brown made three free throws less than a minute later after being fouled on a long shot, then had back-to-back steals and immediately followed with assists both times — on Sananda Fru’s dunk, then another jumper by Hadley. That run ended with Brown’s layup with 15:06 left that made it 50-42.

Hadley finished with 20 points and Ryan Conwell had 14 for the Cardinals, who shot 56% (28 of 50) from the field.

Brown was coming off 45 points in Louisville’s 118-77 win over North Carolina State on Monday night, when he matched the single-game school record and broke Cooper Flagg’s ACC freshman mark for a single game.

Isaac Williams had 20 points for the Bears (13-12), while freshman Tounde Yessoufou had 16. Yessoufou had 37 points in a 99-94 home loss to No. 22 BYU on Tuesday night.

The non-conference game at Dickies Arena near downtown Fort Worth was tied 34-all at halftime after Brown’s long straight-up 3, his fourth and final make from beyond the arc in the game. That wrapped up a 9-2 run over the final 3 minutes for the Cardinals.

Up next

Louisville: Stays in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to play Tuesday night at SMU.

Baylor: Goes to Kansas State on Tuesday night.

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