ASSOCIATED PRESS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt overcame an early deficit and late free-throw woes to defeat Alabama, 79-74, in Southeastern Conference play Thursday night.

Vanderbilt (14-8, 3-5) took a 12-9 lead six minutes into the game before Alabama went on a 13-2 run and took a 22-14 lead on a Demetrius Jemison basket with 9:20 left in the first half.

The Commodores cut the deficit to 3 points on two occasions before halftime, the last on a Jermaine Beal basket with 2:09 remaining, but Alabama scored 8 of the final 12 points of the half and led, 43-36, at intermission.

“In the first half, we certainly did just about everything we wanted to do,” Alabama interim coach Philip Pearson said. “We guarded, held them to 41 percent (13 of 31) and we got to the free-throw line.”

Alabama (13-9, 3-5) took a 49-45 lead after an Alonzo Gee basket at the 16:37 mark, but Vanderbilt went on a 17-2 run and took a 62-51 lead with 9:12 to play on a Beal 3-pointer. Beal connected on another 3 with seven minutes to play, making it a 70-59 game.

Aided by three 3-pointers, the last by Andrew Steele with 3:09 remaining, Alabama cut the margin to 76-74. Down the stretch, though, Alabama was 0-for-5 from the field.

Vanderbilt, meanwhile, missed four free throws before Beal connected on a pair with 17.4 seconds remaining. With 6.4 seconds left, A.J. Ogilvy hit one of two foul shots for the final margin.

“We’ll get better at that,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said of his team’s 13-for-24 performance from the free-throw line. “There were a lot of things we could have done better. But I thought our defense in the second half more resembled what we’ve been looking for.”

Beal and Ogilvy finished with 20 points each, with Ogilvy grabbing 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the year. Jeffery Taylor scored 11 points for Vanderbilt and Brad Tinsley had 10.

Anthony Brock scored a career-high 15 points off the bench for Alabama, and JaMychal Green scored 12 points with 10 rebounds, marking his fourth double-double of the season. Gee and Senario Hillman scored 11 points each and Mikhail Torrance had 10.