Big Red Louie
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Louisville basketball: An early season review of Team 106

By Tristan Beckmann

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 23: Steven Enoch #23 of the Louisville Cardinals and Dwayne Sutton #24 react during the first half of the game against Marquette Golden Eagles at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament at Barclays Center on November 23, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 23: Steven Enoch #23 of the Louisville Cardinals and Dwayne Sutton #24 react during the first half of the game against Marquette Golden Eagles at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament at Barclays Center on November 23, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
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LOUISVILLE, KY – NOVEMBER 17: Jae’Lyn Withers #3 of the Louisville Cardinals tries to hold off Deven Palmer #5 of the North Carolina Central Eagles during the first half at KFC YUM! Center on November 17, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY – NOVEMBER 17: Jae’Lyn Withers #3 of the Louisville Cardinals tries to hold off Deven Palmer #5 of the North Carolina Central Eagles during the first half at KFC YUM! Center on November 17, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

Jordan Nwora

After playing nearly the entire game in Louisville’s exhibition, Chris Mack has lightened the load on the ACC Preseason Player of the Year in the early portion of the schedule. Nwora is only playing 26.5 minutes per game, and he’s not going to be out of gas when Louisville needs to rely on him most.

He’s lived up to the hype so far this season, averaging 20.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He has led the Cardinals in scoring every game, and he’s certainly capable of continuing to do so. Nwora is hitting 53.8 percent of his shots as well as 55.6 percent of his three-point attempts.

He is an incredible free-throw shooter as well, draining 94 percent of his attempts from the stripe. His scoring average ranks as the 13th best amongst all Power 5 players and he’s not even playing as much as some of the players ahead of him.

Nwora has a player efficiency rating (PER) of 35.6. If he keeps it up or gets better, that would rank ninth all-time since 2009. The junior forward has ridiculous stats per 40 minutes as well, averaging 30.9 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.1 steals.

Nwora still has room to improve on the defensive end, but he does look a lot better on that end of the court compared to last season. He would also benefit from taking care of the ball more, but that’s not too big of a concern at this point of the season. All in all, the hype was deserved. Jordan Nwora is one of the top players in all of college basketball and he’s got a legitimate shot to be the National Player of the Year.

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