Vanderbilt led for over half of Saturday's road outing against No. 23 Memphis, but fell short as Ezra Manjon's fadeaway 3 fell short at the buzzer.

The Commodores now sit at 4-8 after Saturday’s 77-75 loss.

The Commodores pushed Memphis early in front of a packed FedEx Forum in a half where they shot 51.9% from the field, 50% from 3-point range, moved the ball and held the Tigers to just 32.1% shooting from the field.

Vanderbilt led 36-35 at the break and led by as much as seven at one point in the half after an 8-0 run sparked by a make from 3-point range by sophomore guard Jordan Williams that was followed by a Tyrin Lawrence make from deep. The Commodores led for over 13 of the 20 minutes.

Manjon led Jerry Stackhouse's team with 13 first-half points while Tasos Kamateros threw in 11 after three makes from beyond the arc.

A 7-0 Memphis run out of the half that feasibly could've put the Commodores out of this one was quickly matched by a 6-0 Vanderbilt run.

That 6-0 run wasn't all.

How about a four-point play for Jason Rivera-Torres as soon as he entered the game for the first time in the early second half. What if that wasn't all?

As Manjon left this game with cramps, it was two tough makes from its freshman forward as well as a few impressive plays off the bounce by Paul Lewis and Isaiah West that kept the Commodores in the lead.

Memphis ultimately regained the lead with just over five minutes to go on a Malcolm Dandridge alley-oop that was part of a 12-0 Memphis run.

That run put the Tigers in a position that ultimately allowed them to pull away from Vanderbilt and give the Commodores their fourth-straight loss.

Three quick takes:

The Best performance of the season for Vanderbilt

It's difficult to argue for any other game to fill this role.

Vanderbilt went into a harsh road environment as a 16.5-point underdog coming off of three-straight losses and punched Memphis in the face early on national television.

The ball was moving, guys were making tough shots and Vanderbilt was rebounding it against a deep, athletic front court. Not only that, it was playing loose and confident.

Vanderbilt looked like it belonged with a top 25 team.

Whenever it looked like Memphis was going to pull away, Vanderbilt answered in a big way.

Frankly, it's a bit frustrating that Vanderbilt can't play like this more consistently. If it had, it may be undefeated or close to it.

Nonetheless, Vanderbilt was excellent on Saturday and it's a shame for the Commodores that they fell short.

Ezra Manjon was fantastic

Manjon had it going on on Saturday afternoon. That's the player that Vanderbilt fans have grown to love.

The 6-foot guard was flying around, getting into the lane, finding his teammates and helping to exploit late Memphis rotations as it threw some ball pressure at Vanderbilt.

Manjon's season average of 15.2 points was eclipsed just a few minutes into the second half of Saturday's game. It felt like the veteran guard was playing with the flair and energy that he possessed as Vanderbilt went on its late-season run in 2022-23.

The Vanderbilt point guard finished Saturday with 20 points and four assists while shooting 7-for-11 from the field.

By all accounts, Manjon is the guy in Vanderbilt's program that does everything right, it's no surprise he showed up in the Commodores' toughest test of non-conference play.

Frankly, he looked like the best player on the floor for most of Saturday's contest.

As Bill Raftery said:

"My goodness. Can he shake with the best of them? Big-time ticker as well."

The difference: turnovers, free throws and knowing how to win

Vanderbilt shot it better from the field as well as 3-point range, outrebounded Memphis and had more assists as a team.

The problem with those assists were that some of them were negated by 17 turnovers. The Commodores outshooting Memphis was negated by the Tigers getting to the line 13 more times than Vanderbilt and making nine more free throws.

Maybe the biggest difference; Memphis knows how to win even when it isn't at its best. Vanderbilt hasn't done that yet. That was the difference at times last season and that felt applicable today.

Memphis made the big plays when it mattered more than Vanderbilt did.