The Vols even the score in its regular-season rematch with the Commodores
Knoxville, Tenn. – For the third time in 18 days Tennessee rematched with another SEC opponent. Heading into the game against Vanderbilt, the Vols were 1-1 in the rematches.
A get-back win over Florida and then swept by Kentucky. The Vols found another get-back against the Commodores.
Tennessee battled in the first half but came alive in the second half to go on to win 81-76.
FDP’s Three Takeaways:
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Chaz Lanier present and active:
At the half, Lanier had more points (13) than he’s had in six complete games in SEC play. That highlighted how active and present he was in the first 20 minutes.
His first bucket came within the first two minutes of the game. It was a nice catch-and-shoot triple from the wing near Vanderbilt’s bench. The Vols were trailing by one at that point.
Later he showed great poise once again. He gathered a quick pass from Zakai Zeigler and was immediately under tight coverage. The traffic led him to lose grip on the ball, but he regathered it, reset, and knocked down a long-range jumper to make it 34-22 Vandy.
Lanier took over in the final minutes of the half, accounting for seven of the 10 total attempts.
His quickness and decisiveness were on display once again in the final seconds of the half.
With about 6 seconds left on the game clock, Tennessee had the final look. Zeigler held the ball at the top of the arc and finally passed to Lanier with about 2 seconds left. Lanier stepped up to take the long-range double and it rattled in to give Tennessee the last points of the half.
Despite his performance, the Vols trailed, 44-31.
Lanier got quiet in the second half but his points made all this difference on the scoreboard. His second bucket was a nice layup that rolled in off his fingertips to get the Vols its first lead of the game, 57-55 with 8:45 left in the game.
Lanier extends Tennessee’s lead with a massive catch-and-shoot triple from the wing to make it 67-63 with 4:50 left in the game. Vandy quickly called a timeout after that score as it was the third straight bucket by Tennessee.
Lanier added eight points in the second half to finish with 21. He did so while going 9-16 from the field.
His 21 points were the fourth time he reached at least 20 inside conference play.
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Zakai Zeigler’s an assist machine
Much like the defense, Zakai Zeigler was very quiet in the first. He went scoreless in the first but turned it on in the second.
It started on this possession when it was late in the shot clock Zeigler with a catch-and-shoot triple to bring the Vols within nine.
That physicality continued on a really tough layup where he took the hoop and the harm! After the free throw, it was a five-point game with 13:35 to go.
Maybe a top-three play of the game for Zeigler came when he almost turned it over. He scrambled on the floor for the loose ball. Igor Milicic Jr. came in for support, but Zeigler saw Jahmai Mashack all alone. While on the ground fighting off a pair of Dores, he feeds it to Mashack.
He took advantage of an open lane and laid it in to bring the Vols within 10, 50-40 Vandy.
With 11:39 to go, the game flipped.
This play also among the top three, Zeigler pulled up for a triple to cap a 12-2 run over nearly four and a half minutes. The Try made it a two-point game, the closest the game had been since it was 11-10 Vandy in the first half.
Later, Zeigler made a driving layup to give the Vols the lead back and it marked his 14th point of the half.
His last bucket came on a baseline layup banked off the glass with tight coverage to give him 22 points in the game. He also led the team in scoring. He also finished with a team-high eight assists.
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Tennessee’s defense desperately needed stops
Tennessee’s defense was all but ineffective in the first half against Vandy. At the break, they trailed 44-31, a much larger margin than the team’s first meeting where the score was 41-35 Vandy.
Tennessee had just 10 rebounds in the first half compared to Vanderbilts 21. Part of that led the Commodores to seize crucial second-chance points. They had 7 to Tennessee’s 0.
That would change in the second half and a key part in what led the Vols to get back into the game.
The Vols found mometum changing plays on offense in the second half but the defense needed to find stops.
It did so by getting in better spots for rebounds.
Okpara grabbed a crucial defensive rebound on Tyler Nickel’s missed three-pointer. The sequence finished with Igor Milicic Jr. dishing it back to Okpara who threw it down for a dunk. That bucket made it an eight-point game.
Vanderbilt called a timeout after the play.
By the 12:55 mark Tennessee had eight total rebounds.
Okpara stepped up in a big way to get those rebounds. He gave the team its ninth rebound by 12:30 mark.
individually he had just one rebound in the first half but had four in the second half by that time.
This helped hold Vandy to getting just two second-chance points in the second half.
Tennessee dominated the defensive glass, 17 of its 20 rebounds were on the defensive end. The effort was led by Felix Okpara who had five.
The game ends with Lanier grabbing a defensive rebound with 7.6 seconds remaining and he’d draw the foul.
Vandy’s final shot was a three-pointer that came up shoot as time expired.
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