Here are some reflections on Vanderbilt's 26-point loss at South Carolina.

Vanderbilt couldn’t defend the paint.

Carolina doesn’t shoot the ball well; the Gamecocks ranked 244th in the country in effective field goal percentage at 47.7, according to Ken Pomeroy. That included just 48.2 percent on 2s (202nd).

That didn’t apply on Saturday.

Carolina went 60 from the field in the first half, including 28 points in the paint. For the game, those numbers were 54.1 and 44.

It's hard to find what VU can defend.

Coach Jerry Stackhouse said the Commodores would emphasize defense first, and surely this wasn't what he had in mind.

Vanderbilt entered the evening ranked 232nd in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted defensive efficiency. Carolina--which ranked 140th in Pomeroy's offensive efficiency--scored a season-high 90 on 74 possessions, making for 1.22 points per possession.

Let's put that in perspective: Vanderbilt gave up 122 points per 100 possessions tonight. That effort, on an un-adjusted basis every night, would make the Commodores America's third-worst defensive team.

NOTE: Pomeroy updated his stats as I'm writing this. The night's games aren't complete but VU dropped 10 spots to 242.

Free throws--Vandy shot 60 percent--were Vandy's best chance to be more competitive, and the Commodores didn't help themselves.

Here's a sobering thought: make the 14 misses into makes, and Vanderbilt still loses by a dozen.

Guard Saben Lee, who was a miserable 7-for-15, particularly missed chances to pad his scoring total.

Lee's minutes are piling up.

Last year, VU couldn't rest Lee enough out of necessity, and you can't help but think he wore out under the stress.

Perhaps that explains the free-throw total on Saturday. Lee has now played at least 32 minutes seven games running now. It's not just the minutes. Lee handles the ball a lot and is really the only player you have to worry about having a huge scoring night.

This is a situation that's hard to see getting better.

This is the wrong kind of history.

Vanderbilt lost its 24th-straight Southeastern Conference regular-season game in Columbia on Saturday. It ties an all-time league mark set by Sewanee from 1938 to 1940. (It didn't get a chance to extend that mark since it left the league immediately thereafter).

Including SEC Tournament games, the league streak is now 26.

The Commodores head to Kentucky on Wednesday.