Chaz Lanier made five 3-pointers while scoring 23 points to help top-ranked Tennessee notch an 82-64 victory over Middle Tennessee on Monday night in nonconference play at Knoxville, Tenn.
Zakai Zeigler had 17 points and a career-best 15 assists for the Volunteers (12-0), who trailed by at halftime but pulled away over the final 13 minutes. The 12-0 start ties for the second best in program history, behind a 14-0 run to begin the 1922-23 season.
Felix Okpara had 12 points and Jordan Gaines added 10 points and six rebounds for Tennessee.
Camryn Weston recorded 23 points and four steals for the Blue Raiders (9-4), who had won four of their previous five games. Kamari Lands added 13 points for Middle Tennessee, which shot 40.7 percent from the field and was 9 of 30 (30 percent) from 3-point range.
The Volunteers held a 40-29 rebounding edge while shooting 48.2 percent from the field and hitting 10 of 22 (45.5 percent) from behind the arc.
Tennessee was down by six at the break and finally regained the lead at 52-51 on two free throws by Lanier with 12:21 left in the game.
Lanier followed with a 3-pointer 26 seconds later, and Cade Phillips slammed home a ferocious dunk to cap a 9-0 run and give the Volunteers a six-point edge with 11:09 to play.
Essam Mostafa later scored back-to-back hoops to bring Middle Tennessee within 59-58, but Tennessee followed with a 14-2 surge.
The first six points came on free throws — four by Zeigler, two by Okpara — as the Volunteers pushed the lead back to seven with 7:14 remaining.
After Middle Tennessee’s Chris Loofe split two free throws, Lanier scored on a drive through the lane and Gainey drained a 3-pointer to make it 70-59 with 4:20 left.
Mostafa split two free throws with 3:56 to go for the Blue Raiders before Lanier drilled a trey to make it 73-60 with 3:39 remaining, and Tennessee cruised to the finish.
Weston scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first half to help Middle Tennessee hold a 40-34 advantage.
The Blue Raiders trailed 25-14 with 9:31 remaining in the half before outscoring the Volunteers 26-9 the rest of the period.
After Zeigler scored four straight points to give Tennessee the 11-point lead, Middle Tennessee took over.
The Blue Raiders scored 18 of the next 23 points to take a 32-30 lead, their first of the game, on Jestin Porter’s trey with 3:06 left.
Weston capped his explosive half by sinking a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left for the six-point advantage.
–Field Level Media
