Facing a 10-point deficit at halftime, North Carolina tried digging itself out of the hole and even had a second-half lead at one point.

The Tar Heels found themselves back in that same hole at game’s end, as eighth-ranked North Carolina fell to Vanderbilt in a 72-65 upset in the consolation game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan.

Vanderbilt (3-1) built a 12-point lead during the first half and held a 39-29 cushion at halftime, only to have the Tar Heels (2-2) open the second half with a 6-0 run. North Carolina took a 48-47 lead on a jumper by Leslie McDonald with 11:27 remaining, and the teams jockeyed back and forth for the next few minutes.

Tied at 51-51 with 8:14 to play, the Commodores rattled off eight straight points in the following three minutes, keyed by three free throws from John Jenkins. The Tar Heels cut it back to 59-57 before Vanderbilt pulled away to stay.

The Commodores shot 22-for-47 (46.8 percent) for the game, led by 16 points from Jenkins and 15 points each from Jeffrey Taylor and Festus Ezeli.

North Carolina’s Tyler Zeller scored 20 points, while Harrison Barnes chipped in 11 points.