Alabama almost found out the hard way what it means to get complacent on the road against an SEC foe.

The Crimson Tide nearly ran Vanderbilt off its home floor in the first half, but the Commodores hung around to ensure Alabama coach Nate Oats and his side would have yet another uncomfortable outing in Nashville, Tennessee.

It wasn't the dominant performance Alabama was looking for, but the Crimson Tide managed to avoid a disastrous start to SEC play with a 78-75 win over the Commodores.

Here are three takeaways from Alabama's first conference win of the season:

Mark Sears had just seven points in the first half.

Sears had just 10 with just over seven minutes remaining before he scored Alabama's next nine points to help the Crimson Tide seal the win. Sears finished with 21 points as he came alive on the offensive end.

"I thought he was aggressive," Oats said. "I thought he wasn't scared to make plays. He drove the ball with some physicality [and] got fouled."

Sears' late boost in scoring was helped by Vanderbilt guard Ezra Manjon leaving the game with an injury. Manjon did a decent job on Sears defensively but the court seemed to open up for Alabama's leading scorer with Manjon out of the game.

Sears has now scored over 20 points on six occasions this season. In a game where Alabama got in its own way and Vanderbilt refused to roll over, Sears put the team on his back to ensure the Crimson Tide started conference play on the right foot.

Alabama didn’t have its usual output from its three leading scorers for most of the game. Sears took his time to get going, while Aaron Estrada and Grant Nelson were held to just 14 combined points Saturday.

That required the Crimson Tide to turn to other avenues of scoring. Rylan Griffen continued his great run of form, finishing in double figures for the third straight game with 16 points along with four rebounds and an assist.

Seven players finished with at least five points for Alabama and the Crimson Tide got 27 points from its bench. Latrell Wrightsell Jr. led the way off the bench, finishing with 11 points, one rebound and an assist. He seems to be getting more comfortable in Oats’ offense and has now finished in double figures in Alabama's last two games.

“I thought he was great,” Oats said. “Came in made shots. That’s two games in a row he’s really shot well for us, double-digit scoring in both games.”

While Estrada wasn't lighting up the scoreboard, Alabama's starting guard still showed how valuable he is to the Crimson Tide's offense. Estrada finished with five points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Alabama’s lead grew as large as 18 points in the first half, but the Commodores ratcheted up their defensive pressure and cut Alabama’s lead to just four at halftime.

Vanderbilt’s defense and self-inflicted wounds prevented Alabama from retaining any sizeable advantage, despite another strong shooting performance for the Crimson Tide. Alabama did not score in the final 4:40 of the first half and committed 16 turnovers.

The Crimson Tide’s offense seemed to get too comfortable on a few possessions, leading to giveaways that Vanderbilt’s stars were able to cash in on. The Commodores scored 15 points off of Alabama’s turnovers. Manjon finished with 16 points for Vanderbilt despite missing the late stages of the second half.

Vanderbilt’s adjustments also kept Alabama out of the lane after the Crimson Tide was getting easy entries in the opening few minutes. Alabama finished with 27 points in the paint and was held to its lowest point total of the season.

"I didn't think we did a great job closing either half," Oats said. "We didn't score the last five minutes the first half and then the second half we've got lead and almost gave it up. So we got to do better job figuring out a closing group, close out the half, close out the game and we got to guard better."

The Crimson Tide also struggled at the free throw line in key moments. Nelson was unable to complete a three point play that would have put Alabama up by eight in the second half. Nelson and Griffen also each went 1-for-2 on trips to the line in the final seconds. The Crimson Tide shot just 66.7% from the charity stripe Saturday.

While it wasn't smooth sailing for the Crimson Tide, Oats and Company will certainly prefer to learn from an ugly win rather than a heartbreaking loss, which Alabama has suffered on multiple occasions inside Vanderbilt's arena, Memorial Gymnasium.

With the win Saturday, Alabama's improved it 25-40 on the road against Vanderbilt. While that record remains ugly, Oats seems to have broken the curse that has plagued the Crimson Tide when it travels to Nashville, Tennessee. Oats is now 3-0 inside Vanderbilt's home arena and 10-0 in Nashville.

The Crimson Tide will look to improve off of its first SEC win and build towards the possibility of more wins in the Music City when it takes on a red-hot South Carolina side that improved to 13-1 after taking down Mississippi State on Saturday.

The Crimson Tide and Gamecocks square off at 6 p.m. Tuesday inside Coleman Coliseum.