COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Chaz Lanier had a season-high 30 points, including eight 3-pointers, and No. 6 Tennessee defeated No. 7 Texas A&M 77-69 on Saturday.
Lanier, a senior transfer from North Florida, went 8-of-13 from beyond the arc and 10-of-18 overall in game that featured 11 lead changes and eight ties. Lanier’s eight 3s were the most by a Tennessee player since Jordan McRae in 2013, who made eight in a loss to Georgia, according to ESPN Research.
“Really proud of our guys today where, again, I thought they were very resilient,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, who won his 50th career game over an AP Top-10 team, the 11th coach to reach the mark. “We didn’t get off to the start we wanted, but again, that happens. But we kept our poise.”
Jordan Gainey made a 3-pointer with 3:33 to left to give Tennessee (22-5, 9-5 Southeastern Conference) a 63-59 lead. Zakai Zeigler hit a 3 in front of the Vols’ bench on an inbound pass with 21 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
“We’ve seen him do it,” Barnes said. “It seems like the bigger the moment, he thrives on that.”
The Aggies (20-7, 9-5) started the game with three consecutive dunks before the Vols finally scored a little more than three minutes into the raucous setting at Reed Arena.
A&M led 17-8 early before the Vols scored the next seven points to climb back in the game.
Wade Taylor IV led the Aggies with 18 points, despite missing all nine of his 3-point attempts.
Texas A&M: The Aggies were coming off a 16-point loss at No. 21 Mississippi State that snapped a five-game winning streak, and they’ve lost two straight games for the first time since mid-January (at home against Alabama and at Kentucky). A&M, despite failing to collect its first home victory against a top-10 opponent in program history, likely won’t be affected much in the NCAA Tournament seedings.
Tennessee: The Volunteers hadn’t played since an 81-76 home victory over Vanderbilt a week earlier, and the rested crew appeared to have more energy and spirit from the start against the Aggies.
“I thought Jahmai Mashack’s two tips were huge,” Barnes said. “They were huge and a lot of people wouldn’t notice that, but maybe the two biggest plays of the game.”
Both teams made 90% of their free throws, each hitting 18 of 20.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
