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What Rick Barnes liked most about Chaz Lanier's eight 3-pointers, 30 points at Texas A&M

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•about 10 hours•

GrantRamey

Chaz Lanier, Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics
Chaz Lanier, Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics

It wasn’t the season-high 30 points Chaz Lanier scored or the season-high eight 3-point field goals he made. It wasn’t the 5-for-5 start from the 3-point line or the six made threes in the first half.

What Rick Barnes loved about Lanier’s game in No. 6 Tennessee’s 77-69 win at No. 7 Texas A&M happened with 6:47 left in the first half Saturday afternoon at Reed Arena. 

Lanier drove hard to his left, past A&M forward Andersson Garcia, and finished with a left-handed dunk with Garcia in pursuit. 

“I saw him close out hard,” Lanier said of Garcia, “and the lane was open, so I just took what the defense gave me and that’s how it turned out.”

“He has got a quick release,” Barnes added during his postgame press conference. “But I love the fact he started, the last couple weeks, driving the ball downhill to make people not able to always just sit on his jump shot.”

Chaz Lanier at Texas A&M: 30 points, 10-18 FG, 8-13 3FG

Lanier used screens and jab steps, too, to go with the drive and dunk, to get open looks at the 3-point line. He scored his 30 points on 10-for-18 shooting from the floor, going 8-for-13 from three.

“I just saw that A&M was really sinking into the paint,” Lanier said, “and my guys were just finding me at the 3-point line.”

Saturday was just the fifth time in Tennessee program history that a player has made eight 3-pointers in a game, with Lanier becoming the fourth player to do so. 

“I was just super locked in for this game,” Lanier said, “and I’m just appreciative of my team for getting the job done.”

Lanier now has 94 made threes on the season — one more than Dalton Knecht made in 36 games last season — and is shooting 41.4% from the 3-point line through 27 games. 

Lanier is currently sixth on Tennessee’s list of most 3-pointers made in a single season, with 94. He’s on pace to make 108 3-pointers during Tennessee’s 31-game regular season, averaging 3.48 per game. 

Chris Lofton holds the three highest single-season totals, with 118 in 2007-08, 114 in 2005-06 and 106 in 2006-07. Santiago Vescovi made 102 in 2021-22 and Allan Houston made 99 in 1990-91. 

Lofton also holds the single-game record with nine threes made against Georgia in 2006.

‘I don’t think anybody’s being fouled more than he’s being fouled’

Lanier has made six or more threes four times this season — his previous season high was the seven against Baylor in November — and has made four or more in 13 games. 

“He has worked hard,” Barnes said. “His teammates believe in him and, again, we’ve seen him do it. He’s done it before, early in the year. He had 25 points in the first half against Baylor and so we’ve seen him do that. 

“And he’s had other games like that, but just really proud of the fact that he is continuing to try to get that better every day.”

He’s getting better despite still fighting an uphill battle on the perimeter, according to Barnes.

“I don’t think anybody’s being fouled more than he’s being fouled,” Barnes said. “I told Fran Fraschilla last night, I said, watch how much his shirt tail is out. He gets grabbed and pulled. And we’re just trying to screen him to get him a little separation.” 

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