Louisville basketball coach David Padgett says the team is struggling after a loss to Syracuse, but that they will correct issues. Sam Upshaw Jr./Louisville Courier Journal
Two weeks ago, interim Louisville coach David Padgett was answering questions on national television about his surging team that was riding a four-game winning streak and sitting in second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
It feels like that was a year ago.
Since then, Louisville (16-8, 6-5 ACC) clattered back to Earth, losing four games in five and extending a losing streak to three after a 78-73 loss to a middling Syracuse team on Monday evening. And for the second time in six weeks, Louisville is facing a pivotal moment in its up-and-down season, another crucial test of will after a string of stumbles.
"It has to come from every single one of us, the will to fight and swing instead of just having our backs against the wall and stopping," senior center Anas Mahmoud said. "You can tell we have it in us. We were down 12 at some point (to Syracuse), and people were not giving up. It's just got to happen every single possession. You can't wait until you're down 12 points and then start trying to come back. You have to fight every single possession and fight every single day until the end of the season."
The game: Louisville drops third straight and fourth in five, losing to Syracuse
Mahmoud was one of only four Louisville players in the locker room for media interviews after the loss Syracuse. Redshirt sophomore guard Ryan McMahon was there, crowded, like Mahmoud, by a pack of media members with cameras. So was sophomore wing V.J. King and freshman guard Darius Perry.
The rest of the room was empty, and the typically buoyant back room, where celebrating players can often be heard laughing, shouting and singing, was silent.
"They're down," Padgett said. "They're as frustrated as I am, just because we haven't been playing well. We were playing well a couple of weeks ago, and all the sudden we hit a rut."
Before this recent skid, Louisville's coaches and players cited the team's 29-point rout at the hands of archrival Kentucky as a key point in the campaign. That loss wasn't just a loss — it was an embarrassment for everyone in Louisville's program. The players questioned their concentration and fight, and the coaching staff was jolted into a sense of urgency.
Louisville wasn't necessarily desperate after the Kentucky loss, but it was getting there.
After Monday's loss, it feels like the Cardinals arrived at a very similar spot.
"It's about the same, yeah," McMahon said. "We've lost four of the last five, all games that we feel like we had a very good chance to win, some aga