Freshman Brown rises to the occasion for No. 12 Louisville in 96-88 win over No. 9 Kentucky

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Freshman Mikel Brown Jr. scored 20 of his 29 points in the first half and No. 12 Louisville held on to defeat No. 9 Kentucky 96-88 on Tuesday night.

The Cardinals led 78-58 with 12:24 remaining before the Wildcats attempted a comeback.

Collin Chandler's 3-pointer made it 88-84 with 4:02 left. Brown, however, scored Louisville’s next five points to keep the Wildcats from drawing any closer.

Kentucky is the highest-ranked opponent the Cardinals have beaten since a win over then-No. 3 Duke on Jan. 18, 2020.

Brown showcased the skills that made him a five-star point guard recruit, leading the Cardinals (3-0) to their first victory over the Wildcats (2-1) since Dec. 26, 2020.

His 29 points on 8-of-16 shooting and 10-of-11 from the foul line were the most by a Louisville freshman since Edgar Sosa scored 31 in a 2007 NCAA round-of-32 game against Texas A&M.

LaBradford Smith owns the Cardinals freshman record with 32 set in 1988.

Ryan Conwell added 24 points in the victory, and Sananda Fru contributed 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.

Denzel Aberdeen led Kentucky with 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting. Otega Oweh and Chandler added 12 each.

Not only did Louisville end a three-game skid against its instate rival, the eight-point margin was also the biggest for the Cardinals since they won 89-75 at Lexington on Jan. 5, 2008.

Louisville shot just 37.5% in the second half to help Kentucky with its comeback, but the Cardinals turned the ball over just six times all game.

Kentucky hosts Eastern Michigan on Friday night.

Louisville is at home against Ohio on Saturday.

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