NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Liberty remained unbeaten, coming into Memorial Gym and knocking off Vanderbilt, 61-56, on Saturday night.

Aaron Nesmith led the Commodores (6-3) with 17, while guard Saben Lee had 16.

Vandy led 32-27 at half, but managed just 24 second-half points and never found an offensive flow.

Liberty guard Elijah Cuffee hit a tough runner in the lane with 3:06 left, putting the Flames up, 51-50. Liberty (12-0) never trailed again, and left as one of the country's five remaining unbeaten teams.

Experience seemed to matter tonight.

The 'Dores managed just one field goal in the last 6 1/2 minutes, that being Lee's short field goal in the lane with seven seconds left.

Meanwhile, the Flames were able to manufacture enough in their half-court. After Cuffee's go-ahead shot, the junior guard beat his defender to collect a pass and score a back-door lay-up with 2:02 left to make the margin three.

Vandy had a shot to close within a point, but Scotty Pippen Jr. hit just one of two free throws with 1:19 left. Liberty senior Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz responded with a drive, stop and short bank with 47 seconds left.

Then, after VU freshman Dylan Disu, seemingly unsure about what to do, passed up a 3, he then missed a lay-up. The Flames rebounded and Cuffee hit both foul shots at the other end with 26 seconds left. Liberty led by six, and the game was over then.

Coach Jerry Stackhouse termed the final minutes "a good learning experience," lamenting that Nesmith missed an open 3, and that Disu should have taken the first look in that spot.

Meanwhile, Liberty--with a good chunk of last year's NCAA tournament team (and one that upset Mississippi State) returning, showed little such uncertainty. Sure, there was an occasional crack--senior guard Caleb Homesley threw a poor pass that Pippen stole with 1:19 left, setting up his free throw--but that was the exception.

Vanderbilt, meanwhile, couldn't seem to get Nesmith or Lee set up to make winning plays. And, itt couldn't get a huge defensive stop when it mattered most.

Oh, and free throws mattered, too: Liberty hit all 12 of its, while VU was 13 of 19.

The lack of a low-post scoring option hurt.

Nothing helps outside shooting more than having a post who can receive a pass on the low block and get la-ups with regularity. I'm not sure that happened once tonight. Starting center Clevon Brown had five points and backup Ejike Obinna didn't score. Matt Moyer--who isn't really a post--is the only other big man left on the roster.

And when that happens, it puts more pressure on your guards to produce. Not that Lee and Nesmith aren't capable, but, it helps if you have a crack here and there, or a defense distracted just enough by the thought that someone can hurt you elsewhere. That didn't happen, and Vandy paid the price.

Vandy didn't have an answer for Myo Baxter-Bell .

Baxter-Bell is a unique player; he's listed at 6-foot-5, 270 pounds and frankly looked heaver than that. Baxter-Bell showed an old-school game, repeatedly backing down whoever tried to guard him into the low post, where ehe converted short shots time and time again.

Baxter-Bell was 5-of-8 from the field, and 8-of-8 from the line. And again, that put a spotlight on the importance of having a go-to guy for easy buckets.

"That’s a luxury they have on their team," Stackhouse said. "We just don’t have that skill set on our roster right now."

The supporting cast was inadequate tonight.

One of the nice things about this year is that players other than Lee, Nesmith and Pippen have stepped up at times. Some nights it's been Brown, and recently, it's been Max Evans, who's been a surprisingly-efficient scorer in recent weeks. Sometimes, Disu or Obinna or freshman Jordan Wright have flashed good minutes.

Tonight, none of those guys came though. Disu was Vandy's third-leading scorer, but had just six points and that took eight shots to get there. He had seven rebounds, but also four fouls. Brown had five and five in 34 minutes. Nobody else flashed enough worth mentioning.

Stackhouse tried to steer talk away from a "Big Three" of Nesmith, Lee and Pippen before the season, suggesting that VU had enough of a supporting cast that it didn't need to be about those three guys. But tonight it was, and any help elsewhere could have made a difference.