Vandy wins 8th in row

Jenkins’ 20 points help Commodores come back VANDERBILT 69, ALABAMA 59

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — John Jenkins had 20 points and Jeffery Taylor scored 17 to help resurgent Vanderbilt beat Alabama, 69-59, Thursday night for its eighth straight win.

The Commodores (14-4, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) turned a sixpoint deficit into a 23-point lead before giving back some of the cushion when the Crimson Tide (13-5, 2-2) finally started hitting shots.

Vanderbilt limited Alabama to 23- of70 shooting (a season-low 32.9 percent) and held leading scorer Tony Mitchell without a point.

“Tony has got to be able to regroup and understand that every player goes through a night where you struggle,” Tide coach Anthony Grant said.

Jenkins made 4 of 7 3-pointers and also had seven rebounds.

“We came out here and set our minds to playing physical and that was pretty much the key,” said Festus Ezeli, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Trevor Releford led Alabama with 14 points.

John Henson added 16 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks for the Tar Heels , who trailed 44-36 before Barnes started the run with two free throws, a jumper and a dunk.

(15) Virginia 70, Georgia Tech 38 at Atlanta: Mike Scott scored 18 points and Virginia (15-2, 2-1 ACC) blew out Georgia Tech (8-10, 1-3).

The Yellow Jackets put up their lowestscoring game since a 53-38 loss to Wake Forest in 1982.

Penn State 54, (22) Illinois 52 at State College, Pa.: Tim Frazier hit a floater in the lane with 8 seconds left and Jermaine Marshall blocked Sam Maniscalco’s layup at the buzzer to give Penn State (10-10, 2-5 Big Ten) an upset of Illinois (15-4, 4-2). Brandon Paul’s 20 points paced the Illini. (24) Saint Mary’s 61, Pepperdine 47 at Moraga, Calif.: Rob Jones had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Saint Mary’s (18-2, 7-0 West Coast Conference) past Pepperdine (711, 1-6) for its eighth straight victory.

Stephen Holt added 12 points and three assists to help the Gaels remain the only unbeaten conference team.