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.

–Field Level Media

No. 4 Texas’ defense forced No. 18 Kentucky into a season-high 23 turnovers, and the Longhorns emerged with a 64-53 win on Monday in Austin, Texas.

Kyla Oldacre logged three steals and four of her teammates had two apiece as Texas (23-2, 8-2 Southeastern Conference) won its fifth game in a row. The Longhorns scored 19 points off the Wildcats’ giveaways.

Justice Carlton topped the Longhorns with 17 points, and Jordan Lee scored 13. Madison Booker, who averages 19 points per game, was held to eight on 1-of-6 shooting from the floor.

Asia Boone scored 16 points as Kentucky (18-7, 5-6) suffered its fifth loss in six games. Clara Strack amassed 14 points and a game-high seven rebounds, and Tonie Morgan contributed 12 points.

–Field Level Media

Cade Cunningham led everyone with 33 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as the visiting Detroit Pistons held on for a 110-104 win over the Charlotte Hornets Monday night in a game marred by a massive third-quarter brawl.

The fighting resulted in four ejections prior to the Pistons winning for the seventh time in their last nine games and the Hornets seeing an end to their nine-game winning streak.

It began with a confrontation when Charlotte’s Moussa Diabate fouled Detroit’s Jalen Duren across the arms while trying to stop a shot attempt in the paint. Duren turned to square up with Diabate and issued a slap that set Diabate off. When that scrap wound down, another broke out near midcourt with the main participants being Charlotte’s Miles Bridges and Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart, who came off the bench.

By the end of the fighting, the mayhem spread across most of the court. Diabate, Bridges, Duren and Stewart were ejected at the 7:09 mark of the third quarter — at which point the Pistons owned a 70-62 lead.

Duncan Robinson provided 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting, Duren had 15 points in 20 minutes and Paul Reed added 12 points for the Pistons.

Brandon Miller led the Hornets with 24 points while Kon Knueppel, who made five 3-pointers, and LaMelo Ball added 20 points apiece. Diabate was scoreless in 19 minutes, though he had a team-high six rebounds.

Charlotte held a 57-15 advantage in 3-point scoring, with the Pistons going 5-for-25 from long range. Nineteen of the Hornets’ 34 field goals were threes.

Shortly after the brawl, the Pistons pushed their lead to 85-69 on a pair of Reed free throws with 4:31 to go in the third.

Charlotte gradually carved into the margin and Miller’s jumper, followed by two free throws with 1:36 to play, closed the gap to 104-100. Miller had a chance to make it closer on the next possession, but he missed a 3-point attempt. Knueppel grabbed the rebound, but also missed a 3-point try.

Tobias Harris, who finished with 11 points, converted at the other end with a short jumper.

The Hornets were 17-for-17 on free throws.

The teams will meet again April 10 in Charlotte. The Pistons won a December matchup at home.

–Field Level Media