Mikel Brown's big recreation raises Louisville's 2025-26 ceiling

[ad_1] In a yr of excellent freshman performances, Louisville Cardinals guard Mikel Brown Jr. added his title to the listing in a key win over the NC State Wolfpack (18-7, 9-3 in ACC).

Brown scored a game-high 45 factors whereas capturing 14-of-23 (10-of-16 on three-point makes an attempt) and added 9 rebounds, three steals and two assists as Related Press No. 24 Louisville (18-6, 8-4 in ACC) cruised to a 118-77 victory.

Mikel Brown's big recreation one other in lengthy listing of wonderful 2025-26 freshman performances Brown's 45 factors are the second-most by a freshman this season, solely trailing Illinois Combating Illini guard Keaton Wagler (46 factors), who was one among three freshmen to eclipse the 40-point mark on Jan. 24, together with BYU Cougars ahead AJ Dybantsa (43 factors) and Houston Cougars guard Kingston Flemings (42 factors).

Total, seven freshmen have scored 40 factors in a recreation this season, with Stanford Cardinal guard Ebuka Okorie reaching the mark on Saturday. Florida Gulf Coast Eagles guard Jordan Ellerbee (42 factors) and Washington State Cougars guard Ace Glass III (40 factors) additionally reached 40 factors on back-to-back days in November.

The NIL period has led to extra upperclassmen remaining in faculty, however the quantity of big video games by freshman present youthful gamers nonetheless have a spot.

As for Louisville, Brown's efficiency reveals what the Cardinals are able to. NC State — a projected No. 7 seed within the NCAA Event — is not any slouch, however the Cardinals handled it like a low-level mid-major. Louisville shot 60 p.c and out-rebounded NC State, 42-28, in a recreation it by no means trailed.

Brown missed eight video games earlier this season with a again damage and has struggled with consistency by his freshman yr. Earlier than Monday's recreation, Brown was capturing 36.4 p.c, together with 32.7 p.c in 5 video games since returning on Jan. 24. He had one among his worst video games of the season in an 83-52 blowout loss on the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils (21-2, 10-1 in ACC) on Jan. 26, capturing 1-of-13.

If Louisville makes noise in subsequent month's ACC event, it will likely be with Brown enjoying a outstanding function. As he confirmed Monday, he is able to lighting up the scoreboard, and the Cardinals want that dynamic playmaking skill to maintain up with the convention's heavy hitters.