Louisville basketball: Three takeaways from signature win at Duke

Louisville can win when Jordan Nwora isn’t at his best

It’s true. Jordan Nwora can have an off shooting night and the Cards can still hang in with some of the best teams in the country.

Many did not want to hear the narrative after the Cards’ overtime loss to Kentucky, but Louisville has other play-makers, and sometimes their best guy isn’t going to have his best stuff.

It doesn’t take much to harken back to the old Pitino days and remember what Louisville specialized in: taking away the other team’s No. 1 option. The Cardinals became known for that, particularly in Pitino’s later years.

The same can be said of Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K has been around the block a time or two, and guys like K, John Calipari, Tony Bennett, Tom Izzo, and others are going to adopt the same philosophy. And why not?

Nwora had scored the most points of any Cardinal in all but one game this season prior to Saturday. It would be in Duke’s best interest to do everything possible to take Nwora out of the game and make the Cardinals beat them with their other weapons.

Duke executed its gameplan to perfection. Nwora attempted 12 shots, and the only three that he made were transition dunks. Six points on 25 percent shooting and 0-3 from beyond the arc.

Yet it was Nwora who remained one of Louisville’s most important pieces. Similarly to the Kentucky game, Nwora remained on the floor for the entirety of the second half. Mack and staff conceded to the fact that Duke would have to face guard Nwora with one of their best defenders, thus leaving isolation situations for the Cardinals time after time.

Dwayne Sutton, David Johnson, Fresh Kimble, Samuell Williamson, and Malik Williams all thrived in iso situations. Finally, instead of trying to force-feed Nwora, they let their other talented players take advantage of one-on-one opportunities and other chances to score on set pieces.

Teams are going to be forced to make the decision now between finding a way to stop Jordan Nwora or conceding that the Cardinals star is going to get his and trying to find a way to stop everyone else.