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Louisville basketball looking to rebound as they take on Eastern Kentucky

By Tristan Beckmann

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - DECEMBER 03: Steven Enoch #23 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrates during the 58-43 win against the Michigan Wolverines at KFC YUM! Center on December 03, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - DECEMBER 03: Steven Enoch #23 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrates during the 58-43 win against the Michigan Wolverines at KFC YUM! Center on December 03, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 10: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals drives past Avery Benson #24 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the first half of their game at Madison Square Garden on December 10, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 10: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals drives past Avery Benson #24 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the first half of their game at Madison Square Garden on December 10, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

F Jordan Nwora, Louisville

Nwora was looking to make a statement in front of a national audience on Tuesday night. Instead, Texas Tech made him look silly for much of the game. Despite his struggles, he didn’t give up, and he was one of the reasons that the Cards felt like they still had a shot as time wound down in the second half. Nwora had his worst game of the season by far, as many of the Cardinals shooters did. He shot 4 for 16 from the field and went 1 for 7 from beyond the arc, only scoring 14 points and turning the ball over four times.

It was a rough performance for the star forward, and one that the Cards don’t want him to replicate at any point in the remainder of the season. Louisville is undoubtedly a top-five team when Jordan Nwora is playing up to his potential.

Hopefully, that is shown once again on Saturday. Nwora could really benefit from a nice bounce-back game against EKU to get him back into rhythm, and I’m not sure why anyone would doubt his ability to do so. Expect the ACC Preseason Player of the Year to get back on track against the Colonels.

G Jomaru Brown, Eastern Kentucky

The leading scorer for the Colonels, Jomaru Brown is the guy that determines how EKU plays as a whole. If he’s on, the Colonels can compete with a lot of teams, but if he’s off, they are a rough basketball team. In the last four games (all EKU losses), Brown has been through a rough stretch, shooting 22.4 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from three. He’s also turned the ball over an average of six times per game in this stretch.

Brown still has good scoring abilities and he’s capable of getting over this rough stretch. I mean, he dropped 41 points against Western Kentucky in mid-November, and he did it with efficiency, shooting 57.1 percent from the field. If he breaks out against Louisville, nobody would be surprised. I’m betting against it though because I think the Cardinals guards present a tough challenge for him defensively. He’s prone to big turnover games, as evidenced by him already having four games of eight or more turnovers this season. If he does that against Louisville, it’ll be a rough game for the Colonels.

G Darius Perry, Louisville

Cardinals fans took to Twitter in fits of rage and bashed Darius Perry after what was an ugly performance against Texas Tech. Granted, it wasn’t a pretty performance, but tweeting and trash-talking players almost never ends well. Perry had an incredible start to the season in his new role as the point guard, but he’s cooled off recently and his game against Tech marked a whole new low for the junior guard. He turned the ball over six times, often getting punished by Texas Tech for attempting to throw the ball up to Steven Enoch in the middle of the paint.

Perry did not have an assist and he only contributed two points while getting whistled for four fouls. His poor performance led to him playing a season-low 15 minutes. It’s time to move on from that game for Darius and he certainly knows that. It’s one bad game and the Georgia native cannot let it define his season. Many fans might be calling for a new starting point guard, but it’s way too soon to be asking for a change. If the poor play continues, it’s feasible to expect a point guard change in ACC play, but give Perry a chance to redeem himself.

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