LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The headline has to be that the University of Louisville basketball players organized a team meeting after the Cardinals lost consecutive games to Georgia Tech and Clemson last week.
That is what you would expect from a team with solid leadership.
"I think the mood is pretty upbeat, honestly," Louisville senior Dwayne Sutton said.
"We had a team meeting as players and talked about what it's going to take to get back to winning ways … dropping two in conference is not something we wanted to do, but it happened. I think it's important for us to learn from it and move forward."
Chris Mack, the Cards' coach, said that he did not suggest the gathering.
"I think it shows they care," Mack said. "I tell those guys all the time that it's their team. The older guys, it's the way they'll go out, the way they'll be remembered and it's important to them."
Fans appreciate it. Talk radio demands it. The message board probably wondered what took so long. Gotta show you care, right?
"We lost three straight (in January 2013) and we felt all the things these guys are feeling now," said former U of L star Luke Hancock.
"Teams go through that. Great players go through that."
But after the Cardinals checked the Team Meeting box, they need to check another box Wednesday night. Syracuse will visit the KFC Yum! Center at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
It's time to check the Play Defense and Win boxes. Mack declined to say if he planned to change the starting lineup. He did say that he believed his team did not defend with gusto.
"We have (lost our fight) in those two games and we can't let our offense dictate how we defend," Mack said.
If Louisville is slumping, Syracuse is wildly erratic.
The Orange lost three of their first four Atlantic Coast Conference games.
Then maybe they had a team meeting. Syracuse won five straight, including three on the road.
The surge ended. Syracuse comes to town with four losses in its last five games, including three by four points or less.
Two things stand out about Syracuse. You've heard the stories about their 2-3 zone -- and saw the effectiveness of it last season when the Cardinals shot 25.9 percent and lost to the Orange, 69-49, in the Carrier Dome.
The second thing is that coach Jim Boeheim essentially plays 6 1/2 guys -- and four average double figures.
The Orange have three players -- Elijah Hughes, Buddy Boeheim (the coach's son) and Joseph Girard III -- who average seven three-point attempts per game. Boeheim makes better than 39 percent of his attempts.
Sutton did not share what the players discussed, but this item needed to be near the top of the agenda:
Crank up the defense.
"I think we just lost our fight on the defensive end for some reason," Sutton said. "I know that earlier in the season we were hanging our hats on defense.
"For whatever reason we came out lackadaisical the last two games and got off to some tough starts. It was kind of hard to fight back.
"Moving forward we're just going to try to get back to what we do: Play defense, get in transition, play fast, play in space and try to get some wins."
According to Ken Pomeroy's analytics website, Louisville ranks No. 44 nationally in defensive efficiency, allowing 93.4 points per 100 possession. It is the program's worst ranking in that category since 2010.
The defensive effort against Clemson was particularly weak. The Tigers made nearly 62 percent of their two-point field goal attempts and 9 of 23 three-points (39.1 percent).
Clemson scored 1.15 points per possession after averaging 0.93 when the teams played three weeks earlier at Louisville.
"Seeing the ball go through will add some confidence to us," Sutton said. "I know we can score. We just struggle to sometimes.
"For us, I think it's more important on the defensive end to lock in. Get some stops. Get some kills (at least consecutive scoreless possessions for the other team) and play in transition."
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