‘No Vandy Voodoo for You’

Neither Nate Oats or Mark Sears knows what it's like to lose in Nashville.

Sears scored 21 points to lead Alabama to a nail-biting 78-75 win over Vanderbilt, further eraing the "Memorial Gym Curse" on the Vandy campus.

Oats is now 10-0 coaching in Nashville. As a player, Sears is 5-0.

Sears aid, "Great team win. This is a hard place to play. We've bought in to finishing with a full 40 minutes of defense.

"I wanted to be more aggressive in the second half. Smart and aggressive. I felt like I could get to the rim."

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Oats liked seeing his team build a first half 18-point lead on the road. He didn't like seeing Vandy finish the first 20 minutes with a 21-7 lead to trail by only four at the break.

Oats said, "Road wins are not easy in the SEC . We'll take 'em.

"We've got to do a better job... closing either half. Closing the game. We've got to guard better.

"Sears was aggressive. He wasn't scared to make plays.

"We've got to make free throws, too. We've got to rebound it better.

"In the last four minutes it was not at all what we're looking for. "

Joining Sears in double figures for Alabama were Rylan Griffen with 16 points and Latrell Wrightsell came off the bench to add 11.

Next up for the Crimson Tide [9-5, 1-0 SEC] is a 6 p.m. CT Tuesday home game against South Carolina, which beat Mississippi State at home Saturday.