With the help of an eight game losing streak, the Pirates' 2-12 Big East record is the team's worst start in the conference since 1984-85, when they started 0-15. The Pirates most recent loss also drops them under .500 for the first time this season at 13-14.
"I have answers, I just have to wait till next year," head coach Kevin Willard said. "We got to figure out a way to finish the last five games of the season better than we did tonight."
He also mentioned, "(The team) is upset, they are embarrassed of the way we played," after Tuesday's 67-46 loss to Marquette.
It won't get any easier for the Pirates as they travel to Louisville to face the No. 10 Cardinals on Saturday. This is the second meeting between the teams this year with the first matchup resulting in a 73-58 Louisville victory.
In the Jan. 9 game, the score was tied at 42-42 with 11:24 remaining before Louisville went on two separate runs of 12-2 and 9-2 to coast to a comfortable 73-58 victory at "The Rock."
Only eight players saw action in the first meeting, but sophomore Brandon Mobley will not be available this time around. Juniors Brian Oliver and Aaron Geramipoor did not play the first time around but did see playing time against Marquette and could be available Saturday.
"The effect of all the injuries has really demoralized this team," Willard said after Marquette. "To the point of when a 25-1 run happens we don't have much fight in us. That's a little bit of being young and not having a lot of depth."
Louisville, who likes to play up-tempo and put on the full court press will, make life difficult for the Pirates. Senior Peyton Siva runs the point for the Cardinals alongside junior Russ Smith and between the two they average 28.4 points per game with Smith averaging a team leading 18.4 points.
The head-to-head matchups at the two guard spots will be the most difficult for the Hall as Willard has mentioned previously that the defense form the guard position has been a struggle for his team.
At this point of the season with no postseason in the foreseeable future, outside a miracle run at the Big East Championships, Willard believes that he is going to have to make some changes with the team.
"A couple changes we need to make is bringing in a couple of guys who have a little more fight than some of the guys on this team," Willard said. "We need to continue to recruit guys that have a little more fight in them. That's an overall theme."
The Hall has lost their previous three games against Louisville and their last five in Louisville with their last win coming in 1952.
Stephen Valenti can be reached at stephen.valenti@student.shu.edu.
