Chaz Lanier shoots No. 1 Tennessee to another win, 67-52 over Norfolk State

Chaz Lanier saw his first shot go down with 16:53 left in the first half Tuesday afternoon against Norfolk State. More often than not, that’s all the transfer shooting guard needs to see.

Lanier scored 14 points in the first nine minutes, going 4-for-6 from the 3-point line during his red-hot start, and finished with 24 to once again powered No. 1 Tennessee to a win, beating the visiting Spartans 67-52 in a New Year’s Even matinee at Food City Center.

Lanier finished 6-for-16 from the 3-point line for Tennessee (13-0). The Vols got 10 points and six assists from Zakai Zeigler and Cade Phillips had 10 points and a career-high five blocks. Igor Milicic had five points and 10 rebounds.

Norfolk State (9-7) got 19 points from Christian Ings and 18 from Brian Moore Jr.

Lanier made his second three just 32 seconds after his first. He hit another one at the 13:56 mark, pump faked and stepped inside the arc for a long jumper 45 seconds later, then hit another three with 11:37 left in the half.

By the second media timeout, Lanier was 5-for-7 from the floor, had made the four threes and had 14 of Tennessee’s 23 points, helping the Vols get out to a quick 11-point lead.

Lanier entered the game shooting 47.4% from the 3-point line, going 45-for-95 through 12 games. Tuesday was his eighth game with at least four 3-pointers. He made a season-high seven against Baylor and had six more against Virginia in the two games in the Baha Mar Championship in the Bahamas in November.

He made five against Middle Tennessee State last week and had four against Syracuse, Gardener-Webb and UT Martin.

13-0 Vols off to second best start in program history

Tennessee’s win on Tuesday, the 13th straight to start the season, gave the Vols the second best start to a season in program history. Tennessee matched the 1915-16 team’s 12-0 start in the win over MTSU last week and will now look to tie the program record on Saturday against Arkansas. 

The 1922-23 Vols started 14-0 in a 17-game season, beating Camp Benning, Maryville, Tusculum, Milligan, Georgetown (Ky.), Centre, Transylvania, Centenary and Emory & Henry along the way. 

Tennessee went undefeated in non-conference play for just the second time during the Rick Barnes era. The 2020-21 team went 6-0 during the COVID-altered season. 

Other Tennessee teams that went undefeated in non-conference play include 1997-98 (11-0), 1980-81 (8-0) and 1956-57 (8-0).

Up Next: No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 23 Arkansas, Saturday

No. 1 Tennessee starts SEC play with a marquee matchup Saturday against John Calipari and his No. 23 Arkansas Razorbacks in a 1 p.m. Eastern Time start (TV: ESPN) at Food City Center.

Arkansas has won six straight games and is led by former Kentucky by former Kentucky forward Adou Theiro, who is averaging 17.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.0 steals in 28.5 minutes per game.

Five-star point guard Boogie Fland is averaging 15.8 points and 6.2 assists in 33.5 minutes per game and former Kentucky guard DJ Wagner is averaging 9.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals in 33.9 minutes per game.

Former Tennessee center Jonas Aidoo is averaging 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds in 16.0 minutes per game at Arkansas.

After Saturday the Vols go on the road for two straight, going to No. 6 Florida on Tuesday and then to Texas on Saturday. Tennessee goes to Auburn on January 25 and hosts Kentucky on January 28, diving headfirst into an SEC schedule that features 14 opponents currently ranked in the top 50 of the NET.