Former University of Louisville men’s basketball star Jordan Nwora set a franchise record for the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, scoring 25 points in the second quarter of the team’s regular season matchup against the Atlanta Hawks.
The previous Pacers’ record for most points scored in a single quarter of a regular season game was 24, set by Mike Dunleavy in 2010. Jordan Nwora also managed to tie the overall franchise record (i.e., regular season and postseason) of 25 single-quarter points, set by Pacers legend and all-time great Reggie Miller in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks.
The 24-year-old certainly showed off his versatility as a scorer in Atlanta on Saturday evening. Nwora was drilling three-pointers, finishing in transition, hitting mid-range jumpers, and scoring in the paint.
Jordan Nwora just set the Indiana franchise record for most points in a quarter (25)
— State of Louisville (@thestateoflou) March 25, 2023
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Although his team ultimately lost the game to the Hawks by a final score of 130-143, Nwora finished with a season-high 33 points, shooting 12-17 from the field and 4-7 from three-point range. He also collected six rebounds and played a team-high 34 minutes.
After spending the majority of the 2022-2023 season with the Milwaukee Bucks, Jordan Nwora was traded to the Pacers on February 9th, just a few hours ahead of the 2023 NBA trade deadline. Through his first 17 games with the Indiana Pacers, Nwora is averaging career highs in points (12.4), rebounds (4.4), assists (2.0), field goal percentage (49.4%), three-point percentage (44.9%), and minutes played (22.7).
The New York native was originally recruited to the University of Louisville by Rick Pitino but played his first season under Interim Head Coach David Padgett. After averaging just 12.0 minutes per game as a freshman, Jordan Nwora took a big step forward in his sophomore season under Chris Mack, averaging 17.0 points and 7.6 rebounds on his way to being named the ACC’s Most Improved Player for the 2018-2019 season.
The rising star had an excellent campaign during his junior year as well and was named to the 2019-2020 All-ACC First Team while leading the Cards to an overall record of 24-7 and a second-place finish in the conference. He was drafted 45th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, where he won an NBA championship during his rookie season and spent nearly three seasons as an elite, but slightly underutilized, offensive weapon.
Jordan Nwora and the Pacers are currently in 12th place in the Eastern Conference standings but are just three games out of the play-in tournament with seven games remaining in the regular season. Nwora’s bigger role with the Pacers has allowed him to showcase his talent and potential to the rest of the league and looks to be the beginning of a very promising NBA career.