The transfer set and matched career bests against Texas A&M
College Station, TX. – There was rarely a shot Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier saw that he didn’t like in what turned into his best game of the year for the North Florida transfer.
His scoring ability in the first half was likely the difference in the game in what was expected to be a defensive battle against No. 7 Texas A&M.
FDP’s three takeaways following a massive Top-10 win for Tennessee. 77-69 is your final, its second top-10 win for the Vols.
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Chaz Lanier lights out:
Midway through the first half, Lanier came ready! When the three was taken away, he drove it to the rack and threw it down for back-to-back dunks!
Lanier was the target once again, a catch-and-shoot triple from the wing near the Aggies’ bench.
Lanier was on fire from the perimeter, off the dribble with the shot clock in its final seconds he drained his sixth dribble of the half. It looked like he was about to drive in the paint once more, but saw he created a little space with his defender so he stopped on a dime and pulled up for three.
That score put Tennessee back in front by one once more, 31-30.
At this point, he was responsible for 20 of Tennessee’s 31 first-half points, or 64.5%. He did so on an incredibly impressive clip,
Final seconds of the first half, Tennessee showed great field awareness with the way the Vols passed the ball around the horn to find not just a good shot but the best shot. It ended with Lanier getting the ball near the baseline and a couple of quick moves gave him space from the field to sink the jumper.
That play gave Tennessee a 36-32 lead into half-time.
Lanier accounted for 61% of the team’s points at the end of the first 20 minutes.
Lanier was heavily guarded in the second and only had two looks through the first eight minutes of the half, and he was 0-2 on those attempts. Both looks were from three.
Lanier missed his third straight triple one a look from the wing near Tennessee’s bench. It was a good look but too much power and it bounced off the back of the rim.
He found his first bucket of the half from long range! Aggies’ head coach Buzz Williams was not happy his team let him take that look. That triple, however, tied a career-best for the transfer. While at North Florida he set his career high with seven treys against Baylor last season on, 11/22/24.
From the top of the key, Lanier set a new career best with roughly four minutes left in the game. Mashack kicked it to a wide-open Lanier and he drained his eighth three of the game and his 28th point.
Lanier’s season-high was 29 points against Arkansas at the beginning of SEC play, he’d finish with a new season-high 30-point performance.
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Tennessee needs to stay aggressive:
When the Vols were the more aggressive team we saw plays like Chaz Lanier grabbing the defensive rebound and connecting from NBA range on the other end for a triple.
Later, Tennessee positioned itself to bring the support. Such as Darlinstone Dubar’s crucial putback after Jahmai Mashack missed the transition layup. The bucket was sparked by a key deflection by Zakai Zeigler to force the turnover. That brought Tennessee back within two, 17-15 TAMU.
Moments later, Jordan Gainey forced a steal and dished to Zeigler in transition for a fast break three. That trey gave the Vols its first lead of the game, 23-22.
While Lanier was putting together his best game of the season, Tennessee needed perimeter presence from someone else.
Igor Milicic Jr. delivered.
A wide-open three gave Tennessee its largest lead of just two in the first half, 34-32. It was also Milicic’s first three after missing his first two attempts.
That support reappeared on a tipin by Mashack in the opening minutes of the second half to tie the game at 40 apiece.
Near the midway point, Zeigler was aggressive when he drove in the paint. He saw Phillips low, dished it to the sophomore and he connected the layup on the back cut. That gave Tennessee the lead again, 44-43.
It was also just the third bucket of the second half for Tennessee who started 3 of 13.
Felix Okpara had great effort on a putback layup. Lanier’s defensive rebound set up the possession, Okpara missed the layup the first time but stayed with it to tap it back in to make it 48-45.
Later, Lanier tried a driving layup but it was no good. Mashack grabbed the offensive rebound and tried to put it back, not enough but he stayed with it and his second effort was good enough!
TAMU immediately called a timeout to pause the Vols’ 5-0 run which put them back in front by two, 53-51.
That’s the second time in the half he channeled intense focus and effort to create points for Tennessee!
Zeigler, while he struggled offensively, continued to drive in the paint to create open looks for his teammates. That was highlighted on Gainey’s triple to give the Vols back-to-back threes and a 63-59 lead with 3:24 to go.
Tennessee found its largest lead of the game, briefly, at six when great passing found a wide-open Gainey for three, 68-62.
Immediately after Gainey inbounded the pass with about 5 seconds left on the shot clock, Zeigler made an aggressive play when he turned down an extra pass to take the baseline three. That would be the final bucket for the Vols, 77-69.
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Limit second-chance points for the Aggies:
The first offensive possession for Texas A&M was the perfect example of how they dominate teams and won four of its last five.
Offensive rebounds.
Solomon Washington missed the three-point try but A&M grabbed the first of two offensive rebounds in this possession. A missed jumper by Wade Taylor was saved by Zhuric Phelps’ offensive board. On the third look, Aggies’ Washington got his second look and converted for a massive dunk.
Tennessee did its best to try and disrupt on defense.
The final possession for the Aggies again highlighted how tenacious they were on offense.
Phelps tried to score a layup with Cade Phillips guarding and the forward denied that look with a massive block. That deflection ended up in the Aggies’ hands for a second look, but they couldn’t connect. It was Phillips’ second block of the first half.
In the second half, Tennessee made more of an effort to crowd the paint in an effort to be in better position to grab a rebound. As that’s how the Aggies get most of its points, on second chance tries.
Tennessee held the Aggies to 14 offensive rebounds, they average the nation’s best 15.88 per game.
Consequently, the Aggies only captured 10 second-chance points.
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