Chaz Lanier fires No. 2 Tennessee past No. 15 Wofford in NCAA Tournament
LEXINGTON — All Wofford’s Justin Bailey could do was clap his hands together in frustration. Chaz Lanier had just hit again from the 3-point line and erased any momentum created seconds earlier on the other end, after the Terriers had made a three of their own.
No. 2 Tennessee had too much firepower and Lanier had the flamethrower, scoring 29 points to lead the Vols to a 77-62 win over No. 15 Wofford in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night at Rupp Arena, advancing to the second round in the Midwest Region.
The Vols now await the winner of Thursday’s late game between No. 7 UCLA and No. 10 Utah State on Saturday. Start times for the second round games on Saturday will be announced later Thursday night.
Chaz Lanier tied Tennessee NCAA Tournament record with six 3s
Lanier’s 29 points came on 6-for-12 shooting from the 3-point line, tying Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament single-game record for made threes. Only Dalton Knecht (37) and Ernie Grunfeld (36) scored more than Lanier in an NCAA Tournament game. Knecht made six threes and scored 37 in the Elite Eight loss to Purdue last March.
Tennessee (28-7) also got a double-double from Zakai Zeigler, who finished with 12 points and 12 assists. Jahmai Mashack had nine points and seven rebounds, Jordan Gainey scored seven points, had four rebounds and two assists and Felix Okpara scored seven points and had five boards.
Tennessee improved to 6-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament under Rick Barnes, during its current program-record run of seven straight tournament appearances.
Wofford (19-16) got 15 from Jackson Sivills, 14 from Corey Tripp and 12 from Jeremy Lorenz as the Terriers went 10-for-24 from the 3-point line.
When Sivills hit a three to get Wofford within nine with 17:15 left, Lanier answered with a three 13 seconds later. When Jeremy Lorenz made a three to get the Terriers within eight, Lanier answered with a three 17 seconds later.
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When Tripp hit a three at the 12:45 mark, Wofford called a timeout, the deficit back down to nine. Lanier answered with two tough midrange jumpers 12 seconds apart, getting the lead back to 13.
Vols took over with 12-0 run in first half
Tennessee took control with a 12-0 run over a span of three minutes midway through the first half, turning a one-possession game into a 22-8 lead after Lanier hit a three with 9:58 left in the first half.
Lanier led all scorers with 14 points in the first half, going 3-for-8 from the 3-point line while grabbing three rebounds. Mashack had seven points and six rebounds in the first half, including three offensive boards and four-second chance points.
Zeigler had seven points and three assists in the first half, helping him break Tennessee’s all-time career assists record with 717, passing Johnny Darden’s previous mark of 715.
The 12-0 run started with a Zeigler three at the 12:54 mark, continued with two Lanier midrange jumpers and finished with an Igor Mlicic Jr. field goal and another Lanier three.
Tennessee made just one shot over the final 6:54 of the first half, and it came from rarely used freshman guard Bishop Boswell, who scored at the 4:47 mark to put the Vols up 33-20.
