BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Facing an early nine-point deficit in a top-10 showdown at a sold-out Reed Arena, the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team clawed back to knock off seventh-ranked Texas A&M, 77-69, Saturday afternoon.
Sixth-ranked Tennessee (22-5, 9-5 SEC) tied a program record with its seventh AP top-25 victory of the season, including its second top-10 decision of the month, behind a game- and season-high 30 points from Chaz Lanier, who notched 22 in the first half alone. The fifth-year guard hit a career-best eight 3-pointers, becoming the fourth Volunteer—fifth instance—ever to do so in a contest.
Texas A&M (20-7, 9-5 SEC) scored the first six points, en route to building a 14-5 edge at the 13:16 mark of the first half, at which time it was 7-of-11 from the field while the Volunteers were 1-of-7. Tennessee, aided by a 7-0 run in 1:52, cut the deficit to two, 17-15, with 9:42 left in the frame. It soon used an 8-0 surge in 1:01 to pull ahead for the first time, 23-22, on a transition 3-pointer by senior guard Zakai Zeigler with 6:16 to go in the session.
After the Aggies regained the lead—pushing it as high as four—multiple times, Tennessee senior forward Igor Miličić Jr., hit a 3-pointer with 2:22 remaining in the stanza to give his team a 34-32 advantage. Lanier added the only points the rest of the half, connecting on a baseline jumper with 22 ticks left to make it 36-32 at the break. Lanier scored 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the first 20 minutes, including notching a 6-of-7 long-range clip that featured makes on his first five attempts.
Texas A&M opened the second stanza on an 11-4 run to pull ahead, 43-40, with 14:26 to go. Tennessee held the Aggies scoreless for the next 3:20 and, during that span, logged six straight points—Zeigler scored four from the line and assisted on the other two—to go up, 46-43, with 11:22 on the clock.
The Aggies, shortly thereafter, went on their own 6-0 run to claim a 51-48 edge with 8:19 to play. Lanier responded with a 3-pointer to level the score just 23 seconds later and senior guard Jahmai Mashack added a tip-in on the next possession to put the visitors in front, 53-51, with 6:56 left.
After the Aggies evened the score, Lanier and senior guard Jordan Gainey sandwiched 3-pointers around a Texas A&M to basket to earn a 63-59 cushion with 3:33 on the timer. Senior guard Wade Taylor IV hit three free throws at the other end to slice the lead to one, but Tennessee countered with two free throws by Zeigler and another 3-pointer by Gainey to go ahead by a then-game-high six, 68-62, with 2:28 to go.
Texas A&M got the margin down to three multiple times, the last with 47.7 ticks remaining, but Zeigler nailed a 3-pointer out of a late-clock timeout to double the lead with 21 seconds to go. Nine seconds later, after a defensive stop, Lanier added two points from the line nine seconds to give him 30 and ice the result by putting the Volunteers up by a game-best eight points, the final margin.
Lanier finished 10-of-18 from the floor, 8-of-13 beyond the arc and 2-of-2 at the line, plus grabbed five rebounds. He amassed the most points by a Volunteer this season, the most made 3-pointers by a Tennessee player in the Rick Barnes era (2015-25) and became the second SEC player to hit eight-plus 3-pointers in a league game this year. The Nashville, Tenn., native is the first SEC competitor in the last 20 seasons (2005-25) to score 30-plus points in an AP top-10 league win on the road.
Zeigler had 16 points, including 13 in the final 12:37, to go along with a team-best seven assists and two steals. He finished 10-of-12 at the free-throw line, good for his second-most makes as a co-most attempts as a collegian. Gainey, who shot 2-of-5 from deep and 4-of-4 at the line, added 14 points, including 10 in the last 6:12, and a game-leading three steals.
Taylor paced the Aggies with 18 points and he equaled Zeigler with a 10-of-12 clip from the line, plus led all players with nine assists. However, Tennessee held him to a 4-of-15 ledger from the field, including a 0-of-9 mark beyond the arc.
Senior guard Zhuric Phelps had 15 points despite Tennessee limiting him to a 6-of-17 count from the field with a 1-of-7 long-range tally. Phelps grabbed 11 rebounds to lead all players, while senior forward Andersson Garcia totaled 14 points and six boards.
Tennessee, which reached five AP top-15 victories in a campaign for the third time ever, shot 48.1 percent (13-of-27) from 3-point range and 90.0 percent (18-of-20) at the free-throw line. It conceded just a 39.0 percent (23-of-59) field-goal mark to the Aggies, including a 16.7 percent (5-of-30) register from deep. Texas A&M had the exact same free-throw numbers as the Volunteers.
The victory served as the 828th in Barnes’ 38-year career, moving him into a tie with Arkansas’ John Calipari for the most at the Division I level by any active coach. The two are also tied for the No. 10 spot all-time in that category. Barnes also tied Nolan Richardson for No. 20 on the SEC’s all-time wins list with 109 conference victories.
Tennessee is back in action Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET in Baton Rouge, La., where it faces LSU at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, live on SEC Network. Listen to coverage following the District 1-AA Boys Championship game with South Greene and West Greene on 103.1FM WIKQ.
