This is Chaz Lanier’s one and only NCAA basketball tournament, and he is making the most of it.
Tennessee’s fifth-year senior guard who spent his first four seasons at North Florida scorched through the first two rounds last week, when the Volunteers easily dispatched of Wofford and UCLA. Lanier torched the 15th-seeded Terriers for 29 points during a 77-62 victory and added 20 more against the seventh-seeded Bruins in a 67-58 win, and he heads into Tennessee’s Sweet 16 pairing with third-seeded Kentucky in Indianapolis on Friday (7:39 p.m. on TBS) having made 10 of 18 attempts from 3-point range in NCAA play.
“What’s most impressive is the fact he hasn’t changed any approach into the tournament,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said. “We understand that we’re in the tournament, and we understand what this time of year is about, but he hasn’t strayed away from his routine and what he needs to do. In these last three or so weeks, he’s been very aggressive shooting the ball, and he’s gotten so much better at paying attention to detail. It’s something he really embraced.
“When he came in, he was a pretty cool, calm guy. He gives all the glory to God, and he’s grounded in a way that it’s not about him. He knows he’s part of a good team, and he’s willing to do whatever he needs to do to help. He’s not selfish, and in his own way he sets a great example.”
The 6-foot-5, 207-pounder from Nashville has started all 36 games this season for the Vols (27-9), averaging a team-high 18.1 points per game. His 41.0% accuracy from 3-point range ranks second in the Southeastern Conference to Kentucky’s Koby Brea (43.8%), and his 120 makes from long range are a single-season program record.