John Jenkins scored seven of his 32 points during a critical late run, leading No. 24 Vanderbilt to an 81-77 victory over No. 18 Kentucky on Saturday afternoon in Nashville, Tenn.

With the game tied 66-66, Jenkins hit a 3-pointer to put the Commodores (18-6, 6-4 SEC) in front with 4:29 to go. His steal and layup at the 2:18 mark capped an 11-3 surge that made it 75-69. Kentucky stayed within range thanks to 3-pointers from Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight, but Vanderbilt was able to seal the game by making its final 10 free throws.

Jenkins, the conference's top scorer, was 11 of 17 from the field with six 3-point buckets. Festus Ezeli added 14 points for the Commodores, who hit 11 of 20 3-point shots and 20 of 23 from the foul line.

Jones and Knight finished with 25 and 20 points, respectively, for the Wildcats (17-7, 5-5).