ATHENS — Georgia basketball would like to think it has moved past the level of moral victories.

Maybe, but with its 10-game win streak snapped in an 85-79 loss to Tennessee these Bulldogs are not projected in the NCAA tourney field and rank 72nd in the KenPom.com metrics.

Those Georgia wins over ACC foes Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Florida State were nice, but college basketball forgets and moves on quickly with occasional glances on shifting projections for the annual “Big Dance.”

Coach Mike White understands as a former SEC player who helped turn around Ole Miss and temporarily revive Florida basketball that real victories and postseason appearances are what matter.

No moral victories

“Let’s not ever be thrilled about a loss,” White said. “We played them close. We had a chance. The people that say, ‘That’s a great effort’ - that’s not what we are about. We’re trying to win those.’ "

The Bulldogs will have another opportunity to prove that on the road against a 14-2 South Carolina team on Tuesday night.

The Gamecocks are sure to get a favorable home court whistle, that seems to be a pretty proven trend in college basketball.

If Georgia plays South Carolina tight and loses another close game, some might be quick to point to UGA basketball history — one SEC regular season champion, and two league champs in 90 years.

Spring football starts soon, right?

Not so fast: these Bulldogs might not hang a banner, but they did show they could be good enough to make a postseason appearance during that loss to Tennessee.

Stegeman sellout

Fans left Stegeman Coliseum abuzz. Maybe not thrilled with the defeat, but vowing to return to see more of this improved version of Georgia basketball.

That was a Vols’ team that measures up to any in the country -- they went into East Lansing and handed Hall of Famer Tom Izzo the first November home loss of his career earlier this season.

Georgia had that same Tennessee team -- really, a better version, the Vols have improved since then -- down by 11 points with 8 1/2 minutes left to go.

Was the Tennessee talent that much better than Georgia’s with its 15-1 run over the final 5 minutes of the game?

Dalton Knecht was the best player on the floor on Saturday — and perhaps the most talented to enter the building since No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick Anthony “Antman” Edwards was packing fans into Stegeman Coliseum.

Don’t judge Knecht unless you saw the game. And if you haven’t seen the game, Google the highlights.

The 6-foot-6 Knecht was rising up over defenders and draining threes and taking the ball to the rim seemingly at will en route to his 36 points.

“Sometimes, good offense just beats good defense,” said White, who has proven himself humble and not one for excuses. “He hit a couple that were heavily contested.”

Georgia talent

Both Tennessee and Georgia had future pro players on the floor, but those in Orange and White had more NBA scouts watching while the Red and Black upperclassmen are more likely headed for the developmental or overseas ranks.

That should only make people appreciate these Bulldogs that much more. They are likable hard workers who seem determined to create their own narrative.

It’s a collection of veteran collegiate players on their second, third and final chances, mixed with incoming freshmen who can and will learn much from those grizzled veterans around them.

Senior Jabri Abdur-Rahim, once a Top 100 recruit, continues to work hard on his shot and his body while leading this team.

Justin Hill continues to provide clutch shots and solid guard play. Graduate students Noah Thomasson and Russel Tchewa have obvious talents and at times take over games, while disappearing on others.

They’re all running out of time to prove they can be consistent maintaining high levels of play.

Turning Georgia basketball around would prove something.

The UGA media guide is filled with the names of former Georgia players who have tried but failed, reduced to social media shout outs.

Scoreboard: The last time the Bulldogs made the NCAA tournament was 2015, and the last time Georgia cracked the AP Top 25 poll was 2011.

Challenge ahead

White reminded his team after the loss to Tennessee there’s still time to improve and games left to validate their talents.

Just as Kirby Smart told his football team it had to get better with each game this season to reach its goals -- how true that proved -- the same can be said for this Georgia basketball team.

“There are 15 more opportunities, then an SEC tournament,” White said. “And if we’re good enough, potentially something in the post season.”

They are good enough, but they needed to be pushed, and they need to stick together.

Silas Demary Jr., only a freshman, is a big part of that potential and a reason for Georgia fans to buy tickets for the next games.

Demary Jr. already plays with the sort of confidence and ferocity UGA needs to win road games like the one on deck.

Demary drove the lane fearlessly on Tennessee, throwing down a dunk over 6-7 fifth-year senior Josiah-Jordan James that should stay in the memory banks of Georgia fans in attendance for quite some time.

“I feel like what we take from that loss, we can be in those big-time games,” said Demary. “We believe in ourselves. We practice hard every day. I just feel like we can learn how to execute better down the stretch, learn how to not get comfortable at times.

“I feel like when we got comfortable, Tennessee took advantage of us, and we had a few mistakes. So I feel like not being comfortable and completing games.”

Talk of learning to be comfortable being uncomfortable should sound familiar to Georgia football fans.

Big picture

Freshman Blue Cain is another rising star, and the Knoxville product drained three 3-pointers on Tennessee to remind Vols’ fans what they missed in overlooking the local product.

The hunch here is that Cain is not done with Tennessee, but that will have to wait until the next meeting.

For now, there’s much bigger business ahead.

Memorable teams are different than memorable moments, and the challenge is for the Bulldogs’ to maintain their chemistry, something White’s first team did not.

Georgia started last season 3-1 in the SEC before fading to a 6-12 league mark and 16-16 record losing the final six games to close the year, another disappointing one-and-done in the league tourney.

This Georgia team is more talented than last year’s group, but potential means nothing without results.

Beating sub-.500 league teams and losing close home games against elite competition might look like progress, but White knows better.

The hard line is Georgia needs to reach the NCAA tourney for these players’ names to be remembered and the sport to be taken seriously among an athletic department filled with championship contending programs.