Fast Break: No. 12 Tennessee opens the season with a 16 point win
The No. 12Tennessee basketball team is 1-0 following a season opening 80-64 win over Gardner-Webb.
The Vols (1-0) were led by Chaz Lanier’s 18 points. Jordan Gainey scored 16 and Zakai Zeigler had 13 points and seven assists. Lanier, who shot 3-for-16 from the floor and 2-for-12 from the 3-point line in the 66-62 exhibition loss to Indiana last week, went 7-for-12 from the field and 4-for-6 from three against Gardner-Webb.
Gardner-Webb (0-1) got 22 from Darryl Simmons II and 13 from both Anthony Selden and Jamaine Mann.
Gainey was 7-for-9 from the floor and 2-for-3 from three. Seven of Zeigler’s nine assists came in the first half. He went 7-for-7 from the foul line.
Head coach Rick Barnes said it was a really good test for his team to open the year.
“It was a really good opener for us,” Barnes said. “They are an extremely, extremely well coached team. They did what we thought and they do it well. They adjusted at the end where they were just driving it and putting their bodies on us and taking it down low. Defensively, I thought we were ok for the most part other than what we gave them on turnovers and second chance points. The fact that they showed different defenses was great for us and I thought for the most part our guys handled that ok. I didn’t think we were very good the last five minutes. Too many guys who weren’t aware of the clock and the situation. I don’t care what the score is. It’s about playing the game the right way and we didn’t do that very well in the last five minutes.”
Up Next: No. 12 Tennessee at Louisville
Tennessee goes on the road next to face Louisville Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. The game is the start of a two-year home-and-home between the two programs that was announced over the offseason.
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Saturday’s game is a Noon Eastern Time start and will be televised by ACC Network. The Vols next season will host Louisville on December 16, 2025.
Tennessee will be back home against Montana next Wednesday in a 7 p.m. ET start on SEC Network+ at Food City Center. Austin Peay comes to Knoxville on November 17, before the Vols face Virginia in the Baha Mar Championship in the Bahamas on November 21.
Tennessee will face either No. 8 Baylor or St. John’s on November 22, in the second game in The Bahamas.
