Auburn at Georgia

WHEN: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum

RECORDS: Georgia 13-10, 4-7; Auburn 21-3, 9-2

TV/RADIO: SEC Network (Mike Morgan, Dane Bradshaw); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle and Tony Schiavone)

Has frustration set in with the Georgia basketball team?

Following Wednesday night’s 81-61 loss at Vanderbilt, head coach Mark Fox certainly seemed to indicate as much when, in exasperation, he mentioned during his post-game radio show that was unable to get his team to play as hard and effectively as needed.

Prior to Friday’s practice in preparation for Saturday’s home game against Auburn (21-3, 9-2), Fox was asked to explain.

“My point was our defense essentially disappeared and we’ve got to get back to defending,” he said. “In the last two games we have not defended near to the level that you need to win on the road or at home. We were nowhere near the level we needed to be defensively.”

That much is certainly true.

Georgia (13-10, 4-7) has suffered severe defensive lapses in back-to-back losses to Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, defeats that have only heightened the displeasure by diehard Bulldog basketball supporters, many of whom are anxious to see athletic director Greg McGarity make a change at season’s end.

Fox seemed to back off his statement from Wednesday that his team dropped the game to the Commodores due to any lack of effort.

“I don’t think it’s our lack of fight. We were at Vandy and they were well over 50 percent deep into the half. We tried our zone, they buried a couple of 3's on us … I don’t think it was a lack of effort. They shot the ball well, give them credit, but we didn’t guard well, either.

“But I don’t think it was effort. We were playing some younger guys and they were still making some errors that young guys make, so we’ve got to correct some of that and get back to being an efficient defense.”

Losers of seven of their last nine games, the Bulldogs need to figure out something quick. To many fans, the season is already a lost cause.

If you believe what you read on message boards and Social Media, whatever support Fox has, appears to be eroding with every defeat as the team’s NCAA hopes continue to wane.

“It’s not where we want it to be, but by the end of the day you can only control what you can control, senior Yante Maten said. “You can try to control effort, you can try to control defense and try our best to get good shots that we practice every day.”

Maten added he’s doing what he can to keep his teammates upbeat.

“I definitely have,” he said. “Being one of the older guys, with the freshmen, you see us lose a couple of games you can get down, so that’s something (boosting morale) I’m trying to do.”

In the meantime, Fox continues to try different lineups in order to come up with something that works. Against Vanderbilt, freshman Nicholas Claxton opened for the first time, with freshman Tyree Crump opening the past two following an illness to Teshaun Hightower and suspension of Jordan Harris.

“We just haven’t had consistent play and we’re just trying to find the combination that works and it’s been a little bit of a challenge, there’s no question about it,” Fox said. “But I think these guys are still committed to trying and find that rhythm again and if it means we have to change the lineup we’ll do it again.”