Busting Brackets
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Louisville Basketball: Program records that would’ve fallen in 2020 NCAA Tournament

By Trevor Sinodhinos

SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 20: Head coach Chris Mack of the Louisville Cardinals reacts to a play against the Syracuse Orange during the second half at the Carrier Dome on February 20, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse defeated Louisville 69-49. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 20: Head coach Chris Mack of the Louisville Cardinals reacts to a play against the Syracuse Orange during the second half at the Carrier Dome on February 20, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse defeated Louisville 69-49. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images) /
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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – DECEMBER 14: Jordan Nwora #30 of the Louisville Cardinals (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – DECEMBER 14: Jordan Nwora #30 of the Louisville Cardinals (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Jordan Nwora and the scoring record

Since prolific Louisville scorers; Junior Bridgeman (36pts), Darrel Griffith (34pts), and Allen Murphy (33pts) each tallied up the three highest point totals in Louisville history without the benefit of the three-point line, it leaves 6-7 junior forward Jordan Nwora to chase DeJuan Wheat’s record of 33 points in a single tournament game.

After averaging 17.7 points per game in the 1995-96 season, Wheat scored 33 points on 10-18 shooting versus Tulsa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. After a 10-4 season in Conference USA, Louisville managed a #6 seed in the Midwest region. Tulsa averaged a respectable 65 points against during the season which aided them to place third in the Missouri Valley Conference. Even as their leading scorer, Wheat had three other starters who averaged double digits and was not solely depended upon.

The stars line-up for Nwora to surpass Wheat, since the scoring distribution was heavily dependent on Nwora during the 2019-20 season. Not only did he average 18 points per game, no other player on the roster averaged double digits. During the regular season the Buffalo, NY native displayed his ability to score in the 30s. In a game on January 29th, he tallied up 37 points versus Boston College, and even more impressive was the 32 points versus Florida State, the fourth-ranked defense in the ACC.

Louisville would settle as a #2 seed, or at worst a #3 seed, so the only question would be is “Would Nwora get enough minutes in the first round blow-out victory, or would he have to wait to the more competitive second round, where he would be more likely to get 19 or more field goal attempts in a game for the sixth time this season?” Since he boasts a field goal percentage of 45% and shoots 81% from the free-throw line, if Nwora does indeed declare for the NBA draft, we were robbed of watching him have the greatest scoring output in a single game for Louisville during the three-point era.

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