At this point in the season, it’s obvious Texas can’t win games on sheer talent alone. It’s going to take creative play-calling and darn near perfect execution down the stretch to make the NCAAs.

That’s how close these one or two-possession games are on the margins.

It’s either that, or the Longhorns can take their champagne wishes and caviar dreams to the NIT.

Saturday’s 86-78 loss at Vanderbilt was the result of botched execution on both ends of Memorial Gymnasium. Texas (15-9) is now 4-7 in SEC play with home games against Alabama and Kentucky up next, followed by a bye date. This team has to figure out what it wants to be — and do it quick.

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There’s nothing worse than watching winnable games slip through your fingers. That’s what happened against Tennessee, Auburn and Ole Miss. The same was true in Music City.

Rodney Terry took the blame but Longhorns simply turned in a clunker against Razorbacks

After moving off the NCAA Tournament bubble, Horns fell behind by 23 in 2nd half and struggled all night long

Sure, Vanderbilt’s playing great at home; the Commodores are now 12-1 in Nashville. But this one came down to sheer toughness. It’s arguable that Vanderbilt (17-6, 5-5) needed this one for its NCAA Tournament resume more than Texas, and it showed.

It also didn't help that Texas was without Tramon Mark, a game-time scratch because of a right shoulder issue. This team needs all hands on deck.

At times, the Horns played good defense but got sloppy on the glass. They gave up 25 second-chance points. Vanderbilt’s Jaylen Carey finished with a career-high 18 points while Jason Edwards and Tyler Nickel each pumped in 17 more.

“They got us on the glass,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said in a downbeat tone. “In this league, you can’t give up second-chance opportunities.”

At times, Texas had strong offensive play, as evidenced by a 15-2 run to close out the first half. But that dissipated down the stretch as the Commodores went up by six.

Texas’ Arthur Kaluma tried to force a difficult pocket pass through traffic to Kadin Shedrick. That ball was stolen. Tre Johnson then got fouled but missed the front end of a one-and-one at the free throw line. Kaluma missed a wide-open 3-pointer with 55 seconds left and then didn’t get the whistle on an off-balance shot late.

Vandy’s A.J. Hoggard fired downcourt to a streaking MJ Collins for a dunk with 26 seconds left, and it was over.

It was a perfect way for Hoggard to finish, really. He had a sizzling left-handed layup late and scored again by simply burying his right shoulder and knocking Shedrick back for an easy one in the paint.

Johnson finished with a team-high 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting. The Horns had four others finish in double figures. Normally, that should be more than enough. But in close games, everything is magnified.

It takes more than talent to win on the margins. Before they know it, the Horns will run out of chances to figure it out.