LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Mikel Brown Jr. returned after missing eight games and scored 20 points to lead No. 23 Louisville to an 85-71 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Brown missed the game with a back injury. The 6-foot-5 freshman point guard scored 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting and dished out a team-high six assists in his fourth game of the season.
advertise
Neither team shot particularly well in the first half, but the Cardinals (14-5, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) outscored the Hokies 14-3 in the final 3:54 to take a 37-22 halftime lead.
Virginia Tech (15-6, 4-4) shot just 24.2 percent (8 of 33) from the field before halftime. Both the first-half point total and field goal percentage were the Hokies’ second-lowest of the season.
Louisville led 49-29 with 14:24 left, but Virginia Tech finally found its touch, hitting 10 of 11 shots from the field and Amani Hansberry hit a pair of 3-pointers with 30 seconds remaining to close the gap to 64-56 with 7:22 left.
It was the only time in the second half that the Cardinals cut their lead below 10 points. Ryan Conwell’s four-point play sparked a 12-2 run that gave Louisville a 17-point lead with 5:11 left, and the Cardinals were never threatened the rest of the way.
advertise
Cornwell finished with 15 points. J’Vonne Hadley scored 14 points and Sananda Fru had her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Jailen Bedford scored a Hokies-high 24 points and Ben Hammond scored 18 points. Hansberry scored 11 of his 12 points in the second half.
Next
Virginia Tech hosts Georgia Tech on Tuesday.
Louisville visits No. 5 Duke on Monday.
___
Get AP Top 25 poll alerts and updates all season long. Register here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball