Nashville, TN – The fourth-seeded Tennessee men’s basketball team claimed an 83-72 victory Friday afternoon over No. 13-seeded Texas in its first game of the SEC Tournament.
No. 8/6 Tennessee (26-6, 12-6 SEC) never trailed at Bridgestone Arena on its way to locking up a semifinal berth behind a game-high 23 points from fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier, back in his hometown.
Lanier poured in 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first 8:46 to help the Volunteers build a 21-14 advantage. Texas (19-15, 6-12 SEC) answered with a 6-0 spurt in 78 seconds to make it a one-point game, 21-20, with 9:10 left in the frame, but Tennessee soon scored six straight points of its own to again go up by seven, 29-22, with 7:18 on the timer.
Lanier ultimately finished the half with 19 points on an 8-of-11 clip and helped his team take a 41-38 lead into the locker room. The Longhorns shot 15-of-27 (55.6 percent) from the floor, 4-of-8 (50.0 percent) on 3-pointers and a perfect 4-of-4 at the line in the opening 20 minutes. Tennessee, though, had an 8-4 margin on the offensive glass that led to a 13-5 edge in second-chance points, plus had with twice as many points at the line, shooting 8-of-11 (72.7 percent).
Senior guard Zakai Zeigler, scoreless in nine foul-plagued first half minutes, had six points and an assist—the latter of which gave him both the Tennessee single-season record and 700 in his career—in the first 3:03 after the intermission to put the Volunteers back up by seven, 49-42.
Tennessee held Texas without a made field goal for a stretch of 4:40 early in the second half, including scoring seven straight points in 79 seconds, and built its lead all the way to 14, 61-47, with 12:23 to go. It stretched the margin as high as 15, 65-60, with 9:54 remaining.
The Volunteers retained a 14-point cushion, 75-61, with under 4:15 to go and a 13-point advantage, 78-65, with under 1:45 on the timer. The Longhorns went on a 7-1 run to make it 79-72 with 39 ticks left, but Tennessee scored the last four points from the line to register its second consecutive double-digit and its 19th of the year.
Lanier finished 9-of-15 from the floor his 13th 20-point showing of the season. Zeigler scored all of his 19 points in the second half, as he shot 6-of-7 in the final 20 minutes. The Long Island, N.Y., native posted a game-best six assists and two steals.
Senior guard Jahmai Mashack excelled all around with 13 points, a co-game-best seven rebounds, a season-high-tying four assists and one steal. He shot 7-of-8 from the line, with both marks the second-best of his career. Senior forward Igor Mili?i? Jr., totaled 12 points, equaled Mashack with seven boards and paced all players with three blocks.
Graduate forward Kadin Shedrick had 14 points to co-lead the Longhorns, making all five of his field goals and all but one of his five free-throw attempts. He led the team with six rebounds in the setback. Junior guard Jordan Pope also scored 14 points for Texas, while the Volunteers—buoyed by a stellar defensive performance from Mashack—held the SEC’s leading scorer, freshman guard Tre Johnson, to 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Tennessee shot 27-of-54 (50.0 percent) from the floor, tied its season high in made free throws (24) and allowed just six fast-break points.
Next Up For UT Men’s Basketball
The Tennessee Vols basketball team returns to the Bridgestone Arena court Saturday at 12:00pm CT (1:00pm ET) to take on third-ranked, top-seeded Auburn in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
