Skip to main content
Monday, November 9, 2026Nov 9
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

Gainey delivers at the buzzer to keep top-ranked Vols undefeated

Tennessee Athletics photo / Tennessee senior guard Jordan Gainey, who had the game-winning layup as time expired in Saturday night's 66-64 win at Illinois, performs a celebration dance in front of jubilant teammates.
Tennessee Athletics photo / Tennessee senior guard Jordan Gainey, who had the game-winning layup as time expired in Saturday night's 66-64 win at Illinois, performs a celebration dance in front of jubilant teammates. Tennessee Athletics photo / Tennessee senior guard Jordan Gainey, who had the game-winning layup as time expired in Saturday night's 66-64 win at Illinois, performs a celebration dance in front of jubilant teammates.

By David Paschall 4 min read

Chaz Lanier fouled out.

Zakai Zeigler fouled out.

Jordan Gainey saved the day for Tennessee against Illinois and saved the No. 1 ranking for the Volunteers.

Gainey’s layup as time expired Saturday enabled the Vols to prevail 66-64 over the Fighting Illini before a sellout crowd of 15,544 inside the State Farm Center in Champaign. Tennessee improved to 10-0 for just the fifth time in program history and for the first occasion since the 1999-2000 season.

“Those were two high-level teams going at it in a high-level game,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said afterward on the Vol Network. “We worked through a lot of foul trouble situations, and they had to as well. I’m just really proud of our guys, because we had to put together some lineups we haven’t used a lot out there.