Texas Tech basketball: How the Red Raiders beat No. 1 Louisville

Texas Tech made life more than difficult for Jordan Nwora

With Jahmi’us Ramsey out, the unquestioned top NBA prospect on the floor Tuesday was Louisville’s junior Jordan Nwora.  In fact, that 6-foot-7 forward went through the NBA Draft evaluation process this offseason but decided to return to Louisville.

The preseason ACC Player of the Year was off to a torrid start averaging 21.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in his first nine outings of the year but Tech flustered him all night throwing a number of different defenders at him freshman Terence Shannon, Avery Benson, and Kyler Edwards.

For the game, Nwora shot just 4-16 from the floor 1-7 from 3-point range.  His 14 points were his fewest in a game this year and it was the second-straight game in which Tech held the opposition’s top scorer well below his average.

Last week in Chicago, DePaul’s star guard Charlie Moore managed just six points, eleven below his current season average.  Though other Blue Demons got hot, Beard’s team didn’t let DePaul’s star win the game and that’s what happened against the Cardinals.

The key for the Red Raiders was to make Nwora shoot on the move as much as possible.  He entered shooting 46% from behind the 3-point line so Tech was cognizant of keeping him from being able to catch and fire.  And when he did have an open look or two from deep, he just couldn’t find the range.

It seemed like every time Nwora shot, there was a player in his bubble and another running his way. Because of that, he never got comfortable and it looked at times like he was frustrated, which almost certainly was another reason he didn’t shoot well from long-range.

Additionally, Dwayne Sutton mustered just four points, six below his season average.  Holding he and Nwora to a combined 6-22 from the floor was massive.

We talked prior to the game about the need to make Nwora inefficient and that’s what happened.  Averaging less 0.875 points per shot to get his points, he was perhaps the biggest detriment to his team’s offense and that was because of a brilliant defensive job by the Red Raiders.