Rick Barnes, Chaz Lanier share what they learned in big win vs. Baylor

On Friday, No. 11 Tennessee handily defeated No. 13 Baylor 77-62 to secure the Baha Mar Championship trophy. After the win, Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes broke down the massive triumph.

“We didn’t know a lot about ourselves, to be honest, coming in,” Barnes said. “But I’m really proud of the effort defensively. Baylor’s an outstanding team. Obviously, Virginia on the first night is a hard one always.

“But just really proud of the defensive effort. We can get better. In the second half, when you get a lead like that, it’s hard to play. They came out and played better. We got a little tentative but overall, just a great day for us.”

Tennessee couldn’t have done it without veteran guard Chaz Lanier, who exploded for a game-high 25 points while shooting 7-10 from beyond the arc. More impressive, Lanier scored all 25 of his points in the first half.

Following the win, Lanier pulled back the curtain on his red-hot performance.

“It was falling from the beginning but I wanna give all the glory to God and the credit to my teammates,” Lanier said. “I’m ecstatic. We gonna celebrate tonight and then we’re going to get back in the lab and get to work. We’re just a real tough team and very resilient.”

Lanier is right to also credit his teammates. After all, Tennessee shot 52.2% from the field as a team and an excellent 44.4% from beyond the arc. It was a well-rounded effort for the Volunteers, who recorded 18 assists on their 24 made field goals.

Nonetheless, Lanier was undoubtedly the standout at the Baha Mar Championship. In Tennessee’s win over Virginia in the opening round, Lanier tallied 26 points, connecting on 6-12 attempts from 3-point land.

If Lanier can continue to have a hot hand, there’s no telling what Tennessee is capable of this season. For now, Rick Barnes is focus on keeping his team’s nose to the grindstone.

“I told our team winning is good and feels good, but if you ever think you’ve arrived this time of year, you will find out real quick and get slapped in the face a few times,” Barnes said. “I hope we don’t have to do that to understand how much better we can become as a team.”