What Pat Kelsey, J'Vonne Hadley Said After Louisville's 82-71 Win vs. Baylor

Listen to what the head coach of the Cardinals and their starting forward said after their win over the Bears:

Feb 9, 2026; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey reacts during the second half against the NC State Wolfpack at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated N.C. State 118-77. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program might have taken a brief break from ACC play, but that didn't stop their momentum.

Traveling down to the Lone Star State for a neutral court matchup with Baylor in Fort Worth, the Cardinals used an efficient offense and a strong second half to pull away from the Bears, leaving Dickies Arena with an 82-71 victory. Louisville has now won five games in a row, with their last three being Quad 1 wins.

"I love where our team's at," head coach Pat Kelsey said after the game. "I love my team. Love everything about them. I love the competitive makeup of it. I love the pieces and the talent they bring together. I love their approach. I love their professionalism. I love their selflessness. I love my team. I love my team, and I'm proud of them."

Louisville was on fire from the floor, connecting on 56.0 percent of their field goal attempts, including 15-of-23 in the second half of what was a tie game at halftime. They also held Baylor to 36.7 percent shooting overall, and an ice cold 2-for-22 on three-point tries.

After tying the program single-game scoring record in the previous game vs. NC State, Mikel Brown Jr. followed that up with 29 points, six assists and five steals. J'Vonne Hadley also had 20 points and five boards, while Ryan Conwell finished with 14 points.

"We were more active," forward J'Vonne Hadley said. "We really harp on that. We really talk as a team constantly about being active, being active in gaps, disrupting teams, staying together and helping each other out. In the first half, we weren't doing that to our standard. In the second half, Mikel really got in passing lanes, our guards really disrupted them. It ignited a lot of our offense with transition buckets. We disrupted them, and that's what really helped our offense."

Here's what Kelsey and Hadley had to say following the win:

Head Coach Pat Kelsey and Guard/Forward J'Vonne Hadley

(Photo of Pat Kelsey: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

You can follow Louisville Cardinals On SI for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter/X - @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram - @louisvilleonsi

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter/X and @mattmcgavic.bsky.social on Bluesky