Tenacity and persistence will only take you so far in basketball. It can be safely said Vanderbilt has those two qualities, but much of the time, that’s not enough. And it wasn’t in a 78-75 loss to Alabama Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium.

Two of Alabama’s leading scorers, Grant Nelson and Aaron Estrada were held to single digits. Even the Tide’s leading scorer, guard Mark Sears, was hard-pressed to score his usual bunch of points and gave up six turnovers in the process.

For most of the game, Vanderbilt’s defensive effort was good, Alabama was averaging 92.3 points per game … but it still wasn’t enough.

One could point to two major reasons for the defeat:

— A six-minute blitz to start the game that saw Bama hit 10 of its first 12 shots and streak to a 33-15 lead. They would never trail again.

— The depth and overall talent advantage for Alabama was obvious. It’s why the Tide were able to win despite off nights for Nelson (nine points) and Estrada (5 points). Less-heralded players such as Rylan Griffin (16), Lattrell Wrightsell (11) and Sam Walters (8) made up the difference. It’s not something at Jerry Stackhouse’s disposal.

“We slowed them down a little bit,’’ said Stackhouse, in referencing Alabama’s quick start.  “We had an opportunity to win at the end by continuing to grind the game.’’

Vandy didn’t shoot well again, converting 26 of 65 and only 7 of 26 threes. “With a team like this (Bama), you have to make shots,’’ said Stackhouse.

Despite that, freshman Jason Rivera-Torres was outstanding with 20 points and Tyrin Lawrence also added 20.

Vandy point guard Ezra Manjon certainly held his own against Tide’s array of guards. He finished with 16 points but got hurt with just under eight minutes left in the game. He was fouled going to the basket just before a TV timeout. After limping near the bench, he stayed in the game to make both free throws before exiting. He did not return. He also spent of the game guarding Sears and was not around in the final eight minutes when Sears scored 15 of his 21 points.

“He wanted to go back in the game,’’ said Stackhouse, “but the doctor wasn’t comfortable letting him do that.’’