1/31/2020 basketball Edit

Scouting Louisville

Jacey Zembal • TheWolfpackCentral

Writer

Louisville has won its last seven games and only Florida State has been able to defeat the Cardinals from the ACC. The Seminoles topped the Cardinals 78-65 on Jan. 4.

Louisville carries a 18-3 overall mark and 9-1 in the ACC, and the only other losses were against Texas Tech on Dec. 10, and a 78-70 overtime loss at Kentucky on Dec. 28.

NC State (14-7 overall, 5-5 ACC) hosts Louisville at 2 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.

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Season Overview

Louisville head coach Chris Mack, right, talks to freshman guard David Johnson during a recent win at Duke. (USA Today Sports)

Louisville has been trying to sort out its backcourt but have nine players in the rotation. Junior point guard Darius Perry and graduate transfer Lamarr Kimble of St. Joseph’s is the latest version of the starting backcourt. There are no questions about the frontcourt.

Louisville defeated Boston College in its last game, 86-69, on Wednesday, with junior power forward Jordan Nwora exploding for 37 points and hitting 7 of 14 three-pointers. The Cardinals have six players who are 6-7 or taller, with Charlotte, N.C., native Jae’Lyn Withers is a seventh, but is redshirting.

Rankings

In the newly established NET rankings done by the NCAA, Louisville is ranked No. 10 in the country this season.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) and KenPom.com both have Louisville at No. 9 in the country.

Louisville is ranked No. 11 in the old RPI formula used by the NCAA — according to RealTimeRPI.com.

Shooting

Louisville is third in the ACC at 75.3 points per game, second in field-goal percentage (46.2) and first in three-point field-goal percentage (39.1).

Nwora and fifth-year senior guard Ryan McMahon are two of the best shooters in the ACC. Nwora is at 43.9 percent on the season and McMahon is right behind at 42.9 percent. Nwora has gone 24 of 47 for 51.1 percent over his last eight games.

Rebounding

UL is tied for second in the ACC with 39.8 rebounds per game, fourth in offensive rebounds (11.1) and third in rebounding margin (6.5).

Four Louisville players do the bulk of the rebounding, led by fifth-year senior forward Dwayne Sutton at 8.6 points a contest. The one-two punch of centers Steven Enoch, a fifth-year senior, and junior Malik Williams combine for 13.0 rebounds a contest.

Defense

Louisville is second in the ACC at allowing 62.6 points per game, second in opposing teams shooting 37.2 percent from the field, and first in allowing 29.3 percent on three-pointers. The Cardinals are 11th in the league in blocks per game (3.10) and 14th in steals (5.52).

Enoch has 17 blocks and Sutton has 15, and six players have at least 10 steals for the Cardinals.

Depth

Louisville is one of the few ACC programs who could play 10-plus players if they wanted to.

The bench core has been junior center Malik Williams, a former starter, freshman combo guard David Johnson, freshman small forward Samuell Williamson and senior shooting guard Ryan McMahon.

McMahon is fourth on the team with 8.0 points per game and he’s shooting 42.9 percent from three-point land. Williams chips in 7.6 points and 6.8 rebounds a contest, while Williamson is a former McDonald’s All-American, and is averaging 5.0 points a contest. Johnson exploded for 19 points against Duke on Jan. 18, and he is averaging 5.4 points per game.

Star Watch

Louisville junior power forward Jordan Nwora is one of two returning ACC players who were voted all-conference last year. (USA Today Sports)

Louisville junior forward Jordan Nwora is one of only two players (Notre Dame’s John Mooney the other) who returned from last year’s All-ACC squad — he made third team.

Nwora leads the way with 19.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and he is shooting an impressive 43.9 percent on three-pointers (54 of 123). He put it all together in Wednesday’s 86-69 win at Boston College. He went 7 of 14 from three-point land and had 37 points and nine rebounds in the victory. He also torched Florida State for 32 points and 10 rebounds in the 78-65 loss vs. Florida State on Jan. 4.

The 6-7, 225-pounder from Buffalo, N.Y., has cracked 20-plus points in 11 games this season. Nwora has four double-doubles this season, and has scored in double figures in all but two games.

Rivals.com ranked Nwora at No. 94 overall in the class of 2017. NC State was one of his 22 offers, coming out Saxton River (Vt.) Vermont Academy. He averaged a modest 5.7 points in 12.0 minutes per game his freshman year, but erupted last year. He averaged 17.0 points and 7.6 rebounds a contest, and he shot 37.4 percent on three-pointers.

Likely Starters

NC State

PG — 11 Markell Johnson (6-1, 175, Sr., 13.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 6.5 apg, 1.9 spg)

SG — 13 C.J. Bryce (6-5, 210, 5th-Sr., 13.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.5 spg)

G — 24 Devon Daniels (6-5, 205, R-Jr., 11.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.7 spg)

F — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 205, Soph., 9.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.8 apg)

C — 0 D.J. Funderburk (6-10, 225, R-Jr., 13.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 0.4 apg)

Louisville

PG — 2 Darius Perry (6-2, 195, Jr., 6.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 3.3 apg)

SG — 0 Lamarr Kimble (6-0, 185, Sr., 4.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 2.9 apg)

SG — 24 Dwayne Sutton (6-5, 220, Sr., 9.1 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 2.0 apg)

PF — 33 Jordan Nwora (6-7, 225, Jr., 19.5 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.4 apg)

C — 23 Steven Enoch (6-10, 255, Sr., 10.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 0.4 apg)

Stats To Watch

20: All-American selections from Louisville. Six were consensus selections — Russell Smith, Clifford Rozier, Pervis Ellison, Darrell Griffith, Wes Unseld and Charlie Tyra.

43.5: Percentage on three-pointers for senior guard Ryan McMahon over his last seven games, shooting 10 of 23 from beyond the arc.

69: Louisville players who have scored at least 1,000 points in their career, with junior Jordan Nwora the latest. Nwora has 1,146 points for his UL career.

Game Within The Game: UL’s Dwayne Sutton vs. NC State’s Devon Daniels

Louisville fifth-year senior small forward Dwayne Sutton originally started his career at North Carolina-Asheville. (USA Today Sports)

Louisville fifth-year senior forward Dwayne Sutton is one of the best former walk-on’s in the country.

Sutton is a unique case though. The Louisville, Ky., native had a terrific freshman year at North Carolina-Asheville, averaging 12.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in 2015-16. He elected to transfer back home to Louisville, being the latest in a long line of successful players at UNCA who have departed after being “stolen” in the recruiting process. Keith Hornsby (LSU), Andrew Rowsey (Marquette), Dylan Smith (Arizona), Jonathan Baehre (Clemson) and MaCio Teague (Baylor), have all left the Bulldogs over the years.

The 6-5, 220-pound Sutton struggled in his adjustment to UL, but blossomed his junior campaign. He averaged 10.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game last year. Sutton has built off that season and leads the Cardinals in rebounding this season (8.6) to go along with 9.1 points per contest and he’s shooting 50.4 percent from the field. He’s also a solid shooter from the three-point line at 37 percent.

Sutton has four double-doubles this season (nine games with 10-plus rebounds), including getting 10 points and 14 rebounds in a 67-64 win at Notre Dame on Jan. 11. He had a season-high 16 points in the season opener at Miami (Fla.) on Nov. 5.

NCSU redshirt junior Devon Daniels has been flourishing of late for the Wolfpack. He is fourth on the team with 11.3 points per game, but he has scored at between 12 points and 17 in four of the last five games. He went 8 of 17 from the field for 17 points plus six rebounds in the 75-65 loss vs. North Carolina last Monday.