NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Vanderbilt Commodores know they can shoot well. In Wednesday night's 94-73 victory, they showed No. 10 Alabama just how good they can be.
Shan Foster scored 27 points in the Commodores' best shooting game this season.
They hit a season-high 15 3-pointers in 28 attempts and shot 58.3 percent overall in pulling off their second home upset of a ranked team in eight days.
They beat then-No. 16 Tennessee 82-81 on Jan. 10.
"I thought we played pretty well," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "Everything looks better when the ball goes in the basket."
The Commodores came up one short of matching the 16 3-pointers against Arkansas in 1995 on this floor, and five players hit at least one 3. Guard Derrick Byars, who had 15 points and hit three 3s himself, said it was contagious.
"I looked at the scoreboard at halftime, and we were 9-of-15 from 3 in the first half, or something like that. That's what we're capable of. We're a great shooting team," he said.
Vandy (12-6, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) never let Alabama (14-3, 1-2) get close after the opening minutes in handing the Tide a ninth consecutive loss in Nashville. Alabama hasn't won in Memorial Gym since 1990 under coach Wimp Sanderson.
"They obviously don't like playing here, I guess," Stallings said of Alabama. "Sometimes that just sort of becomes a thing. You don't want to go certain places. I say that, I don't know that they don't like playing here, I'm guessing they don't.
Alabama's other conference loss this season was 88-61 at Arkansas.
Tide coach Mark Gottfried could only compliment Vanderbilt.
"We tried all sorts of different things tonight, but we just didn't have any answers. They made a lot of tough, contested shots tonight," he said.
The Tide missed its first four shots and last led 14-12 after a basket by Richard Hendrix. That was it as Vanderbilt just kept hitting shots in taking a 54-37 halftime lead and the Commodores were up by as many as 25 points in the final minutes.
"It seemed like they made every shot," Alabama forward Jermareo Davidson said. "If they missed one, I sure didn't see it. I'm not sure how you go about countering the way they shot the ball. They were just hot."
Ross Neltner added 14 points for Vanderbilt, and Alex Gordon and Dan Cage each had 12.
Mykal Riley led Alabama with 21 points, while Davidson added 18, Hendrix 14 and Alonzo Gee 11. Ronald Steele, who had been averaging 10.5 points, had only five.
Vanderbilt, which has beaten three consecutive ranked teams including a Dec. 9 win over then-No. 25 Georgia Tech, needed this victory badly. The Commodores had lost two road games to start SEC play, and three of their next four are on the road at No. 25 Kentucky, No. 16 LSU and top-ranked Florida.
The Commodores had hit 13 3s at Georgia last weekend but lost 85-73. Foster said he talked frequently with Stallings over the previous two days about his promise to help his coach have fun.
"And he kind of reminded me of that, and said, 'You're not living by your own words.' I just needed a reminder. I just went out there and did my best to have fun tonight and fortunately, it worked out in my favor," Foster said.
Alabama had won seven of eight with all five starters averaging in double figures. But the Tide had not played since downing then-No. 13 LSU 71-61 on Jan 9.
Gordon hit a 3 that put Vandy up to stay at 15-14 with 14:00 left in the first half. Davidson hit two jumpers that kept Alabama within 19-18, but the Commodores went on a 9-2 run highlighted by George Drake's dunk.
The Commodores, who had only one turnover through the first 18 minutes, pushed their lead into double digits.
With Vandy leading 40-30, one sequence summed up Alabama's night. Gee missed back-to-back shots inside, and Davidson also missed two before Byars hit a 3 on the other end for a 43-30 lead.
Vandy was 21-of-31 from the field, including 9-of-15 from 3-point range, in the first half.
The Commodores cooled off a bit in the second half but not enough to let Alabama back in the game. Foster's fifth 3-pointer put Vandy up 68-46 with 15:06 to go.
The Tide pulled within 76-67 on a basket by Hendrix. Vandy answered with its 14th 3, this one by Byars to push the lead back to double digits on the next possession, as the Commodores scored the next 16 points to seal the victory.
