BOZICH | Louisville visits Notre Dame trying to avoid longest losing streak in 31 years | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Let’s jump into the WayBack Machine. Destination: 1991.

Thelma & Louise went off the cliff. Nirvana eclipsed Pearl Jam atop the Grunge Rock leaderboard. Snail mail was more popular than email at the price of a quarter for a stamp.

Jeff Brohm played quarterback at the University of Louisville. Rick Pitino pulled Kentucky basketball back from NCAA probation. Mike Krzyzewski was known more for having a tricky last name to spell than for winning NCAA titles, because 1991 was the year Coach K finally broke through at Duke.

One other thing happened: That was the last time the U of L basketball team lost six straight games.

It was a streak that stretched from Dec. 29, 1990, through Jan. 12, 1991, featuring losses against Kentucky, Cincinnati, UCLA, South Carolina, Memphis State and Florida State, all by 11 points or less. Denny Crum’s team finished 14-16 and missed the NCAA Tournament.

The 2021-22 Cardinals journey Wednesday to South Bend, Indiana, for a game against Notre Dame. A loss would put a salty exclamation point on the program’s first six-game losing streak in 31-plus years.

I took a second ride in the WayBack Machine to 1941. That was the last time Louisville lost seven straight. Actually, that streak grew to 11 in a row and included defeats to Hanover, Kentucky Wesleyan and Alfred Holbrook.

If Louisville loses at Notre Dame, I’ll turn the losing streak discussion over to Eric Crawford, because he did the research about that era for a book that he and I worked on about the history of Louisville basketball. Crawford told me something the other day about spittoons being placed in the corner of the gymnasium when that 1941 team played. I won’t spoil the rest of the story.

It is reasonable to wonder how much it has been bugging this team to lose consecutive games to Notre Dame, Virginia, Duke, North Carolina and Syracuse.

“There is a sense of desperation that I want these guys to play with, but it has to manifest itself in certain moments and it didn't on Saturday (in a 23-point loss at Syracuse),” interim coach Mike Pegues said.

CRAWFORD | Reality resettles on Louisville as restart misfires in 92-69 loss to Syracuse

The Cardinals fall to 11-12 on the season, the first time the program has had a losing record in February since 2001, in Denny Crum's final season as coach.

“We came here to play basketball and to win some games,” U of L guard Noah Locke said. “Unfortunately, it hasn’t really been going that way at times.

“Throughout your life, you’ve had games when you’ve lost and stuff like that. I’ve been playing this game, and pretty much the whole team has been playing their whole lives. So we’ve gotten this far in our lives. We’re not going to quit. ... We’ve just got to figure out how to get over the hump.”

I’ll tell you who has figured out how to get over the hump: Notre Dame.

In November, when the season began, the Irish were forecast to finish eighth in the Atlantic Coast Conference, two spots behind Louisville. The Irish lost four of their first seven games, including their ACC opener to Boston College by 16 points. You could hear the howls that Notre Dame’s Mike Brey would be the first ACC coach fired. Crowds were not great at the Joyce Center.

Brey and Notre Dame figured it out. Louisville, Chris Mack and Pegues did not. At 9-3, the Irish are tied with Duke atop the ACC. They will sit alone in first place if the Irish beat Louisville on Wednesday.

Louisville, meanwhile, has lost five straight as well as eight of the last nine. The Cards sit in 10th place, racing toward their worst finish in eight seasons as an ACC member.

Notre Dame has done it by limiting turnovers and making nearly 38% of their shots in ACC games.

“They’re phenomenal,” said Pegues, who played for Brey at Delaware. “Obviously well-coached. They have great leadership.”

Louisville ranks in the bottom half of the league in offensive and defensive efficiency as well as offensive rebounding, three-point shooting and forcing turnovers. There are messes everywhere.

Pegues was asked for his motivational message to stop Louisville from losing a half-dozen games in a row for the first time in more than three decades.

“Not a crazy message,” he said. “We want to win.

“Guys want to win. Guys are frustrated that we aren’t winning.

“So the message is: ‘Let’s go win. Let’s go play hard. Let’s go play together. Let’s sacrifice. Let’s do whatever it takes.’“

Otherwise, it’s back to the WayBack Machine.

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