Some guys need elbow room. Jordan Nwora can get a shot off with elbow macaroni room.

This is both a blessing and a bad habit, a valuable asset and a potential liability. The University of Louisville’s star forward fires away with confidence in situations more conducive to claustrophobia. And though Nwora seems slightly embarrassed by his self-indulgent streak, his results recommend more of the same.

“I feel like I shoot so fast that I can get a lot of shots up,” Nwora said Wednesday night. “... Maybe if I’m not getting enough looks, I get some (shots) up just because I know I can. I’m really trying to limit that.”

Boston College was able to limit Nwora to a career-high 32 points Wednesday night, holding him to five three-point baskets, three dunks and three layups during Louisville’s 80-70 victory at the KFC Yum Center. If Nwora forced some of his 16 field-goal attempts, only four of them failed to reach their target – and all of those from beyond the three-point arc.

He scored from long range. He beat opponents off the dribble. He finished fast breaks with authoritative, one-handed slams. He is playing now, and at both ends of the floor, at a level that should command the attention of NBA executives preparing for the 2019 draft.

The N in Nwora may be silent, but his game speaks loudly. He leads Louisville with 18.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, and teammate Dwayne Sutton is among those who have noticed an increase in Nwora’s effort.

“He’s just a tough guy,” Boston College coach Jim Christian said. “He’s a hard guy to match up, because he doesn’t need much space. His body is totally different than last year. He’s without question the most improved player in this league from what I’ve seen. ...

“He can drive the ball. He’s confident. He shoots the ball with range. He’s a good offensive rebounder. He’s got the whole facet.”

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Repeatedly accused of being too “casual,” in his approach to basketball, Nwora would not crack Chris Mack’s starting lineup until the sixth game of the season. As recently as last Wednesday’s overtime loss at Pittsburgh, he produced just eight points on 2-of-14 shooting while committing four turnovers.

Yet to hear Mack expound on Nwora’s performance Wednesday night was to sense a corner being turned. Now 3-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play and having risen to No. 19 in the influential NET rankings, Louisville is improving its NCAA Tournament profile virtually in lockstop with Nwora’s progress.

“I think everyone recognizes what a talented player he is on the offensive end,” Mack said. “He’s got so much confidence in his individual game, but I think he’s finding his shots within the flow of team concept, which is what good players do.

“But on the defensive end, he got switched onto (Boston College star) Ky Bowman more than a handful of times. And I don’t think Bowman ever went around him to the point where it was an uncontested layup. As I’ve told him, he’s played marginal players a heck of a lot worse than that. Guys that maybe average 5-6 points a game go right down the lane and score on him. And I didn’t see that tonight. I think the last two games, he’s played as well as he has defensively all year.”

Boston College would lead by as many as 12 points in the first half before Nwora returned from a brief rest to rally U of L. He scored eight straight points on a fast-break layup and two 3-point shots to give the Cardinals a 33-32 lead they would not relinquish.

After the visitors sliced a 23-point Louisville lead to five points, largely on the strength of a 16-0 run, Nwora responded with a 3-point jump shot with 52 seconds remaining in regulation. He then celebrated his clinching basket by skipping back down the floor before taking his position on defense.

“After that, I knew all we had to do was take care of the ball and the game was over,” he said. “I knew it was a big shot.”

Nwora, too, is a pretty big shot.

Tim Sullivan: 502-582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @TimSullivan714. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/tims.