KNOXVILLE — For a while there, it looked like Tennessee’s senior day festivities following Saturday afternoon’s game against South Carolina would have a lot of sobbing for all the wrong reasons.
The No. 4 Volunteers trailed the Southeastern Conference’s last-place team in the early stages of the second half before senior guard Chaz Lanier heated up in his Food City Center finale. The North Florida transfer scored nine straight points for Tennessee, turning a shaky 50-47 lead into a more comfortable 59-50 advantage, and the Vols went on to a 75-65 victory before a sellout crowd of 21,678.
Lanier finished with a game-high 23 points, with 20 coming in the second half.
“I always tell myself to keep on shooting, and I know that my teammates have the confidence in me,” Lanier said. “The coaches believe in me, and they push me every day in practice to keep shooting, because I know that’s what the team needs from me. My teammates were finding me in the right spots, and seeing the ball go in always feels good.”
Tennessee closed the regular season with a 25-6 record that includes a 12-6 mark within the SEC. The Vols, who now have four consecutive 25-win seasons and six under 10th-year coach Rick Barnes, will be seeded fourth in next week’s SEC tournament in Nashville and will play the second game on Friday afternoon.