ATLANTA - It's not getting much better for the Georgia men's basketball team, which fell to an ugly 2-6 with an eight-point loss at in-state rival Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs never led in the game.

Here's what the Bulldogs had to say:

MARCUS THORNTON, junior forward

Hard not to be discouraged:

“Absolutely it’s frustrating, especially guys like us, we all come from winning. So we know it’s definitely frustrating. It’s what we can control. It’s not outside our hands, it’s not like somebody from the outside is beating us. It’s all we can do is continue to work, try to get better and win some games.”

Difference between this and two years ago, when scoring was more spread out:

“That team, my freshman year when we had all those guys, was more of a rhythm team. Everybody knew what they were looking for. It was so easy and it was such an easy-flowing offense. This team isn’t quite there yet. We don’t know what we’re looking for, we’re forcing up shots in areas we shouldn’t be. It’s like a different area in every game. We just don’t know exactly what it is that we do well yet.”

MARK FOX, head coach

Offense was the problem again:

“We defended adequately enough to win. Had we not fouled at the end they’d be under 60. We just don’t score enough.”

On Caldwell-Pope and the scoring load:

“I thought Kentavious started the game very emotionally, and I don’t think we got him calmed down till halfway through the first half. I thought he was wound up and therefore took a couple shots that just shows his inexperience as a player. And the game hasn’t totally slowed down for him yet. We do need him to score.”

On if the lack of scoring worries him:

"Our scoring has worried me for quite some time. We're not scoring the ball at an efficient enough rate to win. We need some more guys to step up and finish plays. Fortunately tonight we had some freshmen step up and make a step forward. We need some more guys to finish plays and that's a real thorn in our side at the present time."

Freshmen Brandon Morris (who had nine points) and Kenny Gaines (who had five):

“They’ve earned more minutes, so they’ll play more. Those two kids are the bright spots on the night. They both competed very well and made some plays. They finally have practiced pretty well and they earned playing time tonight off their practice efforts.”

KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE, sophomore guard

On the half-court offense struggles:

"I think we were a little sped up. We let them push us around, push us off our spots. But we’ve just gotta fight, and get on to our spots.”

Needing help in the scoring load:

“It would help a lot. We do need other players to score besides me. But it’ll come along. Our team just started off real slow. We’ll pick it up and compete.”

BRANDON MORRIS, freshmean forward

Emphasis in second half to attack the hoops

“Coach Fox told us to be more aggressive. We were settling for a lot of shots. And we just need to get to the (inaudible).”

Why not have a better half-court offense in first half?

“We tend to second-guess teams. Or we’ll go out and be very competitive but at the same time we’ll give up second chances at the hoop, and that played a big toll on us tonight. A lot of second chances they had.”