Louisville pummels Georgia Tech

ATLANTA — Forward Jordan Nwora scored 18 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, and visiting Louisville coasted to a 79-51 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday in Atlanta.

Nwora, a 6-foot-7 sophomore who averages 18.1 points, shot 8 for 12 with three 3-pointers in the first half. He finished 10 for 16 with eight rebounds and two assists. Nwora fell just short of a career-high 32 set Wednesday against Boston College.

“You’ve got to give Louisville credit, they played really well,” Tech head coach Josh Pastner said. “Jordan Nwora was excellent. He really got them going that first half. It just kind of snowballed us that first half like it did against Clemson. We just dug ourselves such a hole and it was hard for us to get back out of it.

“What I told our guys is we can’t have happen is any hangover going into Tuesday’s game versus Notre Dame. It’s a tough loss but it only counts as one in the loss column so we’ve got to be ready to get back on Tuesday versus a very good Notre Dame team.”

It was the eighth consecutive time that Louisville (13-5, 4-1 ACC) has defeated Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets (10-8, 2-3 ACC) were playing without three regulars — point guard and leading scorer Jose Alvarado (groin), power forward Abdoulaye Gueye (undisclosed medical issue) and guard Brandon Alston (personal issues).

“We’ll keep grinding out and figure out a way,” Pastner said. “This was just a tough week for us. When you give guys like a (Marquise) Reed from Clemson or (Jordan) Nwora from Louisville, you let them get some confidence going early, the basket ends up being like you’re shooting into an ocean standing on a pier. It’s just one of those things.

“We’ve got to bounce back and we’ll practice tomorrow and Monday and be ready to go on Tuesday.”

The Cardinals raced to a 43-16 halftime lead over the outmanned Yellow Jackets, who were held to their lowest total for a half and suffered their worst defeat of the season.

Louisville also got 13 points and five rebounds from center Malik Williams and 15 points and six rebounds off the bench from Steven Enoch.

Georgia Tech was led by forward James Banks III with a career-high 24 points in addition to 11 rebounds. It was his fifth double-double of the season and most rebounds since he had a career-high 14 on Dec. 19. Banks was 9 for 17 from the floor and blocked three shots. He was the only Tech player in double figures.

“Josh has done that regardless of who has been on the team,” Louisville head coach Chris Mack said. “I think (Banks) continues to get better and better. We recruited him out of high school, I coached him at USA (Basketball). He’s a really good player. He’s really big and he’s got soft touch and draws fouls. Our post guys didn’t do a very good job with him. Give him credit, he sealed really deep.

“Their offense attack was four guys on the perimeter so he’s isolated a lot. He had a better night than we had defensively on him.”

Louisville shot 50 percent in the first half (17 for 34) to take a 27-point lead at halftime. The Cardinals benefitted from 10 Tech turnovers, which they turned into nine points.

Georgia Tech scored the opening basket, only to have Louisville go on a 9-0 run. The Cardinals also had a 7-0 run and quickly turned it into a rout with a 15-0 run punctuated by Nwora’s three-point play, which gave Louisville a 31-6 lead with 6:01 left before halftime. Louisville led by as many as 31 in the first half.

Tech plays Notre Dame at home Tuesday.