The Tennessee Volunteers are 12-0 in basketball for the first time in more than a century.
Chaz Lanier scored 23 points and Zakai Zeigler added 17 while racking up a career-high 15 assists as the top-ranked Vols broke away late Monday night for an 82-64 triumph over Middle Tennessee State inside the Food City Center. Tennessee closed what had been a back-and-forth contest with a 23-6 run.
“Obviously we came out in the second half and played a lot better,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said in a news conference. “I told them at halftime that this could be good for us and let’s see if we could handle it, and I thought they did a good job with that.”
Tennessee’s previous 12-0 records occurred during the 1915-16 season, which consisted of only 12 games, and the 1922-23 season, when the Vols started 14-0 before finishing with a 15-2 record.
Felix Okpara and Jordan Gainey scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Tennessee. Camryn Weston came off the bench to lead the Blue Raiders (9-4) with a game-high 24 points.
The Vols took the lead for good at 52-51 on a pair of Lanier free throws with 12:21 remaining, and a Lanier 3-pointer on their next possession made it 55-51. The Blue Raiders got within 59-58, but a Gainey 3-pointer with 4:20 left capped an 11-1 run that put Tennessee up 70-59.
Only eight scholarship players were available for the Vols, with freshman guard Bishop Boswell sitting out with an injured right shoulder and with sophomore guard Cameron Carr electing Monday to leave the program. Carr had not played since the Austin Peay game on Nov. 17 due to a thumb injury.
“He just walked out,” Barnes said. “It’s baffling, to be quite honest with you.”
A pair of Zeigler free throws midway through the first half put the Vols up 25-14, but the Blue Raiders erupted to close the half on a 26-9 surge to grab a 40-34 lead at intermission.
The Vols will finish out the calendar year next Tuesday afternoon by hosting Norfolk State.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.