It didn't always look pretty, but it got the job done.

Georgia sandwiched an extended offensive dry spell between a hot start and a strong finish on Saturday night against South Carolina State. While not a complete 40-minute effort, the home Bulldogs (2-1) still triumphed over the visitors from South Carolina State (0-5) by a score of 76-60 on Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum.

"When you’re a new program like this, or new players in the program like this, it takes time to get it to come together," head coach Tom Crean said after the game. "But every time it does, you should be able to build on your confidence with it and hopefully make it a continuation."

After trailing at halftime each of the first two games, Georgia came out scorching hot.

The Bulldogs scored the first five points of the game and built a lead as large as 15. A layup from junior guard Jaxon Etter gave Georgia a 30-16 lead with 11:40 left in the first half.

"We talk a lot about starting our offense with our defense," graduate transfer guard Aaron Cook said. "I think that’s one thing we really tried to focus on coming into this game was getting defensive stops, getting three stops in a row so we can get out in transition and score easy buckets on the offensive end."

At that point, South Carolina State switched to a zone defense. That got the home Bulldogs completely out of their rhythm.

Over the next 19:40 of game time stretching into the second half, Georgia scored just 22 points. It also missed 13 straight 3-pointers after starting 4-of-5 behind the arc.

"We’re behind in zone offense. We’re behind in getting guys to understand we attack pressure—we don’t just break the pressure," Crean said. "They did a good job of slowing us down and getting into that zone. We’ll get better and better, not only because we can shoot, but because we have guys that can seal and we have guys that can pass."

Georgia then closed strong, opening a lead as wide as 19 points before winning 76-60. The Bulldogs also only turned the ball over 10 times, only the sixth time under Crean they've given the ball away 10 times or less.

There are positives to be had, for sure. With Georgia Tech coming to Athens on Friday night, they will need to continue to build on those in the coming days.

Crean heard a "commotion" after the team's walkthrough Tuesday afternoon.

At first, he thought the team's managers were playing. He then saw his team on the court.

The head coach saw Cook leading the team through transition defense drills. Instead of heading up for pregame meal, the Bulldogs stayed for the extra walkthrough time with Cook.

"Trust me, that’s not normal, and that has not happened here where it wasn’t coach-driven in my four years," Crean said.

Cook led the Bulldogs on Tuesday night with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He also chipped in seven assists and three rebounds on a night when he scored his 1,000th career point.

When Crean recruited Cook from Gonzaga, he told him he wanted the St. Louis native to come in and lead Georgia's offense. So far, he's filling that role just as Crean had envisioned.

Cook played the most minutes of any Bulldog on Tuesday night with 36. He directed the offense, scoring and distributing while also limiting himself to just three turnovers, his lowest total on the season.

"Since I got here day one, Coach Crean really instilled that confidence in me," Cook said. "My teammates have really helped me rise into that role. They’ve really been behind me ever since day one. I really can’t ask for a better coaching staff and a better group of guys that have instilled that confidence in me."

Kario Oquendo didn't like the way he played against Cincinnati last Saturday.

Against the Bearcats, Oquendo missed all three of his shot attempts, scored no points, and turned the ball over twice. He called it "probably one of my worst games."

Afterward, the Georgia coaching staff reminded him of his talent. They told him to just be patient and let the game come to him.

Oquendo did just that on Tuesday night, and the results showed.

He finished the night with a season-high 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting. That number of shot attempts led the team. Oquendo also threw down several highlight-reel dunks, including a particularly impressive windmill slam.

"We’re not trying to overcoach him, but we are trying to get him to understand what he’s capable of when it comes to attacking the rim, attacking the glass, and being an attack guy defensively. and really being aggressive with his hands and doing all those types of things," Crean said. "He works extremely hard. We forget he’s a freshman—even though he’s 21, he’s a freshman. It takes time."

Oquendo's defensive skills also flashed. He recorded four steals on the night. He joined Anthony Edwards, Sahvir Wheeler, and KD Johnson as Georgia players to record 15 points and four steals in a game under Crean.

"As soon as I got here, they wanted me to be a defensive stopper," Oquendo said. "Throughout my life, I’ve never been a person who was like, all right, I’m going to guard the fastest player on the team or anything like that. The coaching staff just preached to me I can be the best defensive player in the country, I can be the best two-way player in the conference."

Georgia returns to action when it hosts Georgia Tech on Friday night at Stegeman Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 9:00. The game will be televised on SEC Network.