Luke Kornet used his 7-1 size to his advantage, recording 20 points, seven rebounds and three blocks as Vanderbilt held off pesky Belmont 80-66 on Tuesday at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn.

The Bruins, who traveled two miles from their campus for their season opener, gave the Commodores a second-half scare, cutting what had been a 16-point lead to four.

Kornet was too much for a smaller Belmont team, whose tallest starter was 6-8. Belmont's star forward Evan Bradds managed 19 points, but the NCAA's field goal percentage leader last season had trouble against Kornet and Vanderbilt's 6-foot-10 backup center D'jery Baptiste, and needed 15 shots to do it.

Vanderbilt also translated that height to an advantage at the free throw line, where it hit 25 of 31 compared to Belmont's 9 for 13.

Guard Matthew Fisher-Davis added 16 points for Vanderbilt (1-1). He had perhaps the game's biggest play, ratting in 3 from straight-away, then adding a free throw to give Vanderbilt a 66-58 advantage with 6:17 left.

Belmont cut the lead to six on two more occasions, but never got closer.

Vanderbilt led throughout most of the first half, and held a 36-21 advantage at the break. The difference in the first half was 3-point shooting: VU was 6-of-9 behind the arc in the first half, while the Bruins, who shot 36.4 percent there last year, were 1-of-18.

Vanderbilt's biggest first-half lead came when guard Nolan Cressler sunk a 3 with 1:41 remaining.

Eight Commodores scored in the first half, led by Fisher-Davis (eight).

Guard Peyton Willis and forward Jeff Roberson each added 10 for Vanderbilt

Forward Amanze Egezeke had 18 for Belmont, and guard Taylor Barnette had 11. The Bruins finished 9 for 31 from 3-point range.