Georgia basketball coach Tom Crean will tell you that, despite the record, his Bulldogs have improved in a lot of ways.

Unfortunately, there continue to be areas where his team continues to struggle. Saturday's 86-80 loss to South Carolina is a good example.

Offensively, the Bulldogs (10-11, 1-7) are starting to discover a bit of an offensive rhythm, as indicated by the fact Georgia has now scored 80-plus points in three of its last four games.

Defensively? Well, that's another story. The Gamecocks shot a season-high 56.9 percent, thanks largely to what Crean saw as some severe defensive lapses by his team, allowing too many open looks in the lane and wide open perimeter shots that resulted in South Carolina converting 11 of 16 of its three-point attempts.

"We just didn't have a hand up the way we needed to, and the basket started looking like Lake Michigan for them because they were open. I’m disappointed in that, because this team has improved in a lot of ways," Crean said. "Those of you who've been covering us, I think you can see the improvement. It’s not a moral victory speech. We are improving. But we have got to quit hurting ourselves by not having our hands up or not communicating a switch. There’s no excuse for that. As much as they're improving, as much as they’re getting better; they’re getting better mentally and physically, that’s still hurting us."

South Carolina (11-10, 6-2) still had to work for the win.

Trailing by 10 with just under five minutes to play, the Bulldogs (10-11, 1-7) would climb within three points with less than a minute to go, but got no closer, as a pair of free throws by freshman A.J. Lawson gave the Gamecocks a two-possession lead that they didn’t let go.

Lawson and Tre Campbell led the Gamecocks with 19 points each, followed by Hassani Gravett with 13 and Keyshawn Bryan with 11.

Georgia placed five players in double-figures, led by Derek Ogbeide with 16, Tyree Crump with 14, Rayshaun Hammonds and Jordan Harris with 11 each and Turtle Jackson with 10.

After the game, Ogbeide was asked what effect the team's poor start was having on the players in the locker room.

"Combating something like that, you have to have a particular mindset, just to be able to overcome it. I think two or three times, we cut the lead to single digits, and just let it slip again," Ogbeide said. "It's that kind of slippage that really is what's affected us. It's why we lost the game."

Trailing 45-40 at the half, Jackson brought the Stegeman Coliseum crowd to its feet with a long three-pointer to draw within three, only to see the Gamecocks respond with three straight buckets, including a jumper by Chris Silva, to push the margin back to eight.

Georgia would get as close as four a couple of times over the next four minutes.

A steal, a slam by Hammonds, and a three-pointer by Harris twice made it a two-possession game, but each time the Gamecocks would respond.

Credit Felipe Haase for that.

Haase, who only played nine minutes in the first half without scoring a point, hit three straight open three-pointers midway through the second half, extending what was just a four-point Gamecock lead to 13 at 69-56 with 9:39 to play.

"When you’re switching as much as we’re switching, it’s not about the matchup. When you’re switching, there shouldn’t be many open shots. There are going to be shots when a bigger guy is shooting over a smaller guy, or a smaller guy gets around a bigger guy; we’re doing to deal with some of that. But when you’re man to man, there’s no need for that," Crean said. "There were some guys we were disappointed in with their hand pressure and hand activity today, and as a team I’m very disappointed with our communication, because this was a winnable game."

South Carolina started quickly, jumping out to a 7-0 lead before Georgia finally scored at the 15:05 mark.

It didn’t get a lot better for the Bulldogs.

Georgia only made 3 of its first 18 field goal attempts, as the Gamecocks pushed their advantage to as many as 15 points on one of two early three-pointers by Lawson.

But Crump would keep the Bulldogs in the game.

The junior responded with a trio of threes of his own to bring the Bulldogs back within single digits, ultimately climbing within five at the half to draw within 45-40.

South Carolina, coming off a 92-70 loss to Tennessee, didn’t miss much the first 20 minutes. The Gamecocks shot an impressive 51.4 percent from the field (18 of 35) while converting 6 of their 11 three-point attempts, including three by Lawson.

Georgia would recover to shoot 37.1 percent (13 of 35) after its slow start to climb back into the game, an effort helped by converting 11 of 12 free throw attempts. South Carolina only went to the line five times.

"I could come in here and talk about all the things we’re doing badly, but that wouldn’t be accurate. We’re doing some things good. Or, I could come in here, talk about the good, and not allude to the bad. That wouldn’t be honest either, because I want to give you guys an honest assessment," Crean said. "That’s the bottom line. But let’s all remember, it’s the first year, and I’m as glass half full as anybody can be. We’re in the first year of getting this thing established in a very, very tough league."

Boxscore

...Claxton collected a game-high nine boards for a season total of 195.

...The rebounding battle went to Georgia to a tune of 39-30. The Bulldogs have won the battle 15 times this season and are 10-5 in those games. Georgia entered the contest 2nd in the SEC (+6.0).

...For the forth time this season, five Bulldogs finished with double digits in points. (SSU, TSU,TEX) • Explosive second 10 minutes of the first half: With 10:02 on the clock, SC led 20-8. The following 10 minutes had 57 more points for a halftime score of 45-40. Georgia trailed by as much as 15, but dwindled its deficit to five after finishing the half on a 14-5 run.

...Claxton's block in the second half gave him 100 for his career, tying his father, Charles for No. 8 on Georgia's all-time list. Nicolas is now one block away from No. 7 Antonio Harvey ('91) and two from No. 6 Yante Maten ('16).

...Ogbeide grabbed seven rebounds to move into the No. 9 spot (741) in Georgia rebounding history, passing Athens native Carlos Strong (739). He is now 22 boards away from the No. 8 spot, Chris Daniels.