Lanier Leads Vols
photo by UT Athletics
The University of Tennessee men's basketball team opened the Continental Tire Baha Mar Championship with a 64-42 victory Thursday night over Virginia.
Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier paced all scorers with 26 points, including 18 in the final 18 minutes, for No. 11/9 Tennessee (5-0) at the Baha Mar Convention Center.
The Volunteers used an 11-2 run in 4:23, including eight straight points in just 1:52, to take a 17-10 lead with 7:17 on the first-half timer.
They held Virginia (3-1) without a field goal for 6:21, a span that included 4:09 without a point.
Tennessee took an eight-point edge, 22-14, with 2:51 to go in the frame, but the Cavaliers scored the final seven points of the session, including a 3-pointer right before the buzzer, to make it a 22-21 ledger at the break. After being held to a 2-of-13 field-goal start with eight turnovers through 13-plus minutes, Virginia went 5-of-11 down with just one giveaway the stretch of the session. Neither side shot over 30.0 percent in the opening 20 minutes, but Tennessee had the edge in 3-point connections (four to two), while Virginia did so in free-throw makes (five to zero).
The Volunteers opened the second half on a 15-3 run to go ahead by a then-game-best 13 points, 37-24, with 13:06 to go. They got 11 straight points on four consecutive made field goals, including a trio of 3-pointers, from Lanier—that put him over 1,000 points as a collegian—to begin the surge, which also featured nine straight points in 2:46.
Virginia responded shortly thereafter with an 8-0 run in just 1:32—it also made four straight field goals after starting 8-of-30 through 27 minutes—to pull within five, 39-34, with 10:48 to go. However, the Volunteers quickly regained complete control.
Tennessee soon went on a dominant 18-0 spurt in just 5:16 to go ahead by a game-high 26 points, 64-38, with 1:43 to go. The stretch came during a period in which it limited the Cavaliers to 1-of-13 shooting, with eight misses in a row, after its four consecutive makes. The Volunteers held Virginia without a point for 6:22 and without a field goal for 7:06.
The Cavaliers scored the last four points, giving Tennessee a final margin of 22 points, its fourth consecutive victory by at least that many.
Lanier finished with 26 points, the most by a Volunteer this season, on 10-of-23 shooting, including a 6-of-12 long-range clip, and pulled down four rebounds. Senior forward
Igor Milicic Jr., who spent his freshman year at Virginia in 2021-22, totaled 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds. He shot 5-of-10 from the floor, 2-of-3 beyond the arc and 2-of-2 at the line, plus dished out three assists.
Senior guard Jahmai Mashack filled the stat sheet with seven points, five rebounds, a career-high-tying four steals and two blocks. He also served as the primary defender on Virginia junior guard Isaac McKneely, who had just four points on 1-of-6 field-goal shooting after entering the night averaging a team-best 16.0 per game.
Sophomore guard Dai Dai Ames was the lone Cavalier to reach double figures, ending the contest with 12 points.
Tennessee limited Virginia to just 28.6 percent (14-of-47) shooting on the night, including a 27.6 percent (8-of-29) ledger from inside the arc. It also recorded a spectacular 30-2 margin in points off turnovers, forcing 18 and committing only seven. The Volunteers, for the third time in 2024-25, did not concede a fast-break point.
The 42 points for Virginia tied the second-lowest point total by a Power Six foe against Tennessee in head coach Rick Barnes' 10 years at the helm. Additionally, Tennessee went without a live-ball turnover for the third time in the last 20 seasons (2005-25), as the Cavaliers did not register a single steal.
The Volunteers are back in action Friday at 9:30 p.m. in the Continental Tire Baha Mar Championship title game against No. 13/14 Baylor, live on CBS Sports Network.