Chaz Lanier, Igor Milicic take over for No. 1 Tennessee in 76-52 win over No. 23 Arkansas

Jonas Aidoo was the transfer in the spotlight entering Saturday’s game between No. 1 Tennessee and No. 23 Arkansas. Chaz Lanier and Igor Milicic Jr. were the transfers who took the game over.

Lanier, the red-hot shooting guard from North Florida, kept firing for the Vols, scoring a season-high 29 points and Milicic dominated the glass with 18 rebounds to lead top-ranked Tennessee to a 76-52 win to open SEC play inside a sold-out Food City Center.

Tennessee (14-0, 1-0 SEC), now tied for the best start to a season in program history, got 12 points, five rebounds and seven assists from Zakai Zeigler. Milicic, the stretch forward transfer from Charlotte, scored 13 points to go with the 18 boards and Felix Okpara, the transfer center from Ohio State, had 10 points and four rebounds.

Lanier’s 29 points came on 5-for-9 shooting from the 3-point line, his fifth game with five or more 3-pointers. Milcic’s 18 rebounds were a career-high and the most by a Tennessee player during the Rick Barnes era.

Aidoo, the former Tennessee center who transferred in April, finished with four points and had five rebounds for Arkansas (11-3, 0-1). DJ Wagner had a team-high 17 points and freshman Boogie Fland had scored 12.

Lanier entered Saturday’s game second in the SEC in scoring at 19.6 points per game and third nationally in 3-point field goals per game at 3.9. He was 2-for-3 from the 3-point line in the first half, scoring 14 points, then adding two more threes early in the second half. 

He had 20 points by the 16:57 mark of the second half, building Tennessee’s lead to 19 points and giving him 20 or more points seven times in 14 games, including all but one game against power-conference opponents.

Tennessee led 42-27 at halftime after taking control of the game on the glass

The Vols led for 13 minutes, 59 seconds in the first half and by as many as 17 points after out-rebounding Arkansas 27-12. The Vols had more offensive rebounds (14) than the Razorbacks had total rebounds, with the offensive rebounds leading to seven second-chance points.

Lanier had 14 points in 17 minutes in the first half, changing the game with a 7-0 run midway through the half, scoring the go-ahead points at the 12:24 mark and building the lead to seven just one minute, 10 seconds later. 

Tennessee added another 7-0 run late in the half that needed just 68 seconds and was capped by an Okpara dunk. 

Zeigler had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists in the first half. Igor Milicic scored eight points and had nine rebounds and Okpara had eight points and three rebounds.

Wagner scored eight points in the first half for Arkansas and Fland had seven. Aidoo didn’t have any points or rebounds in the first half, but was called for two fouls in his 11 minutes. 

Up Next: No. 1 Tennessee at No. 6 Florida, Tuesday

After opening the SEC schedule at home, Tennessee goes on the road for two games this week, starting at No. 6 Florida on Tuesday night in Gainesville. It’s a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN2. 

The Vols then go to Texas Saturday for a 6 p.m. ET start on either ESPN or ESPN2 at the Moody Center in Austin. 

Florida lost 106-100 at No. 10 Kentucky Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena, falling from the list of the undefeated teams after a 13-0 start to the season. 

Tennessee hosts Georgia on January 15, goes back on the road to Vanderbilt on January 15 and plays Mississippi State at home on January 21, before the showdown at No. 2 Auburn on January 25. Kentucky comes to Knoxville on January 28.