Freshman guard Donovan Mitchell had 18 points and seven rebounds to help No. 18 Louisville beat visiting Wake Forest 65-57 in an Atlantic Coast Conference opener on Sunday evening at Louisville, Ky.

Sophomore center Chinanu Onuaku posted 12 points and 15 rebounds for Louisville (12-2, 1-0). Senior guard Damion Lee also scored 12 points.

Senior forward Devin Thomas had 14 points and nine rebounds for Wake Forest (9-4, 0-1). Freshman guard Bryant Crawford had 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds while sophomore forward Konstantinos Mitoglou had 10 points and nine rebounds.

The teams exchanged leads until Louisville mounted a 10-0 run to go up 18-9. Wake Forest cut the deficit to three with less than eight minutes remaining in the opening half, but the Cardinals took a 35-28 lead into the locker room at the break.

The Demon Deacons slowly chipped away at the lead in the second half. They cut the deficit to one when sophomore guard Mitchell Wilbekin made a 3-pointer with 5:58 to go to cap a 10-2 run. The Demon Deacons tied the game on a 3-pointer by Crawford with 2:32 remaining, but big baskets by Mitchell and Lee helped the Cardinals hold on for the win.