Louisville's Jordan Nwora returning to form in ACC play
Jordan Nwora decided to take the good with the bad.
After going 2 of 10 from the field with three turnovers in Louisville men’s basketball’s overtime loss to Kentucky Dec. 28, the junior has produced two of his best performances in consecutive games.
Nwora finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the Cardinals’ win over Miami at the KFC Yum! Center Jan. 7. He tied a career-high with 32 points and 10 rebounds against Florida State last Saturday.
“Obviously the Kentucky game I didn’t play how I wanted to play, I was real down on myself after that,” Nwora said. “People are going to praise you when you do good, when you play bad, they’re going to get on you for it.”
Nwora spent plenty of time in the gym working on his after struggling against Kentucky. It wasn’t easy for him as he tried to bounce back following Louisville’s loss to its in-state rival.
He read negative comments and posts on social media about his poor play. Nwora missed 5 of 6 shots from behind the arc along with missing three free throws against Kentucky.
“It was hard going to practice the next day,” Nwora said. “It was hard looking at my teammates knowing they played so hard and did their best and I let them down.”
Louisville coach Chris Mack has had several talks with Nwora about affecting the game beyond scoring. Mack says the 6-foot-8 forward has a willingness to change.
Nwora tied a season-high with 12 rebounds, but also matched a career-high with four assists against Miami.
“I was able to find my teammates and they were able to hit shots,” Nwora said. “It’s on their part, they were hitting shots for me, I was able to get a few assists because of it.”
Mack wants Nwora to understand that what makes the preseason All-American good is being able to affect the game in a multitude of ways.
“We need him to play on the defensive end, we need him to rebound, we need him to make great decisions with the ball,” Mack said.
