When Frank Martin came into the office Sunday to break down the film of the LSU game, a lot of his suspicions from the game were confirmed.

He watched his team give up 86 points in a loss and, when he really stopped to think it came down to one overarching theme.

“It was a lot of guys reacting. When you play good players, you better be playing before they catch the ball. You better be playing before they make the cut. If you’re allowing them to catch and make a cut and reacting to that, you’re going to have a bad day,” Martin said. “We’ve been in reactionary mode since the Tennessee game. We escaped against Tennessee and couldn’t escape the last two games.”

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South Carolina is coming off a winless week with losses to Mississippi State and LSU after what were uncharacteristically poor defensive performances.

LSU and Mississippi State combined to average 82.5 points per game and shoot 42.1 percent from the field and 40 percent from three.

On average, they’re giving up 106.9 points per 100 possessions, which is way higher than the 91.4 points per 100 they’ve put together this season.

“We just have to be ready to attack to defense and take care of opportunities when they come with like steals and force the other team to turnovers,” AJ Lawson said. “We have to prepare ourselves mentally to come in and play defense the way we should.”

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The biggest problem is not being able to contain the team’s starting guards and it’s having a ripple effect across the entirety of the defense.

Against Mississippi State, the Bulldogs’ three starting guards combined for 43 of the 79 points while LSU’s three guards had 34 points.

Those guards were good and still are good, but it was a tough defensive assignment the Gamecocks drew and couldn’t answer the bell.

The fix, thankfully for a South Carolina team needing a quick remedy quick to maintain bubble aspirations, is an easy one.

The Gamecocks (16-11, 8-6 SEC) need to guard before the ball gets to a player and deny the opportunity for an offense to get into a flow with really good players.

“You can’t be in react mode when you play those guys. You have to be engaged and you have to be aggressive before they cut and you have to have your responsibilities in place before you catch,” Martin said. “Once they catch, you’re not taking them away you’re just going to make it difficult for them.”

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They’ll have to fix it in a hurry not only for tournament hopes but because one of the best players in the SEC is coming to Colonial Life Arena Wednesday night (6:30 p.m., SEC Network).

Anthony Edwards for Georgia is the NBA’s top prospect, projected to go No. 1 overall this summer. The Gamecocks already played him and held him to 16 points on 4-for-13 shooting, but that will be harder to do another time.

After getting very limiting practice time heading into Saturday’s game against LSU, the Gamecocks will get two full practices—Monday and Tuesday—preparing.

“The ball’s ending up in his hands sooner in the possession. We got to be prepared. He’s a real good player,” Martin said. “If all I’m being told is correct, we’re going to get a big-time shot from him on Wednesday. We have to be prepared to absorb a very, very aggressive and very good player and figure out a way to neutralize that the best we can.”