No. 12 Tennessee rolls past Gardner-Webb in hoops season opener

Tennessee started slow, imposed its will for a 15-minute stretch and slowed again late against Gardner-Webb on Monday.

No. 12 The Vols, on the floor for a meaningful game for the first time since their historic run ended in the Elite Eight in Detroit last March, played to mixed results in their season opener at the Food City Center, going on a dominant second-place half run that was enough to beat the Runnin’ Bulldogs, 80-64.

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Highly touted transfer guard Chaz Lanier paced Tennessee (1-0) in scoring with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and four 3-pointers, while guards Jordan Gainey and Zakai Zeigler finished with 16 and 13 points respectively.

The Vols shot 50.9% from the field and 34.8% from three-point range.

Gardner-Webb (0-1) won the boards and outrebounded Tennessee 32-29. Felix Okpara led the Vols in rebounding with nine.

Darryl Simmons IIwho gave Tennessee fits during an 18-4 run in the final five minutes, tallied a game-high 22 points. Anthony Selden and Jamaine Mann each scored 13.

Tennessee got off to a sluggish start on both ends of the floor.

After Chaz Lanier opened a 5-0 lead with a 3-pointer, Gardner-Webb began to match the Vols on the board and a quick 5 points off Darryl Simmons II allowed the Runnin’ Bulldogs to trim Tennessee’s lead to 9-7 at the first media timeout.

Both Jordan Gainey and Cade Phillips took advantage of the first minutes from the bench. Gainey hit a three and Phillips drew an and-1 a few possessions later to increase the Vols’ advantage to 15-11.

Gainey seemed to have ignited a spark for the offense. His second 3-pointer was part of a stretch in which Tennessee made four of five shots on its end of the floor and pushed its lead to 18-13 with under 12 minutes left in the half.

Defensively, Tennessee suffocated Gardner-Webb during a scoreless stretch that lasted more than three minutes, and back-to-back 3-pointers from Lanier and then layup on the fast-break allowed the Vols to begin building separation with a 30- 18 leads at 7:30.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run out of a timeout to cut back into Tennessee’s lead, but JP Estrellain his first appearance since checking in with 5:39 left, ended a two-plus minute scoring drought for the Vols.

Tennessee began to pull away again, closing out the half on a 14-8 run over the final four minutes, headlined by a reverse layup under the basket from Zakai Zeigler and a transition score from Gainey for a 44-32 halftime lead.

Up by double digits, the Vols’ size and depth began to wear Gardner-Webb down in the opening minutes of the second half.

Tennessee scored the first 7 points of the half, including 4 points from Igor Milicic Jr. before Jahmai Mashack connected from deep for his first 3-pointer to give the Vols a commanding 56-37 lead five minutes in.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs started showing signs of life when Jamaine Mann scored as Tennessee looked to slow down, but Lanier, fresh off the bench after a strong first half, grabbed the momentum back with a three. Estrella scored on the following possession to put the Vols up 63-41 with 12 minutes left.

Although Tennessee had built a sizable lead and was up by as much as 27 at one point, Gardner-Webb had one run back in it, one that challenged the Vols during a scoring drought that lasted nearly four minutes.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs used a 10-0 run to cut the Vols’ lead to 13 with less than three minutes remaining. Mashack, who had had a relatively quiet night offensively, drained a three from the corner to end that run.

The defense helped set up another much-needed score, turning a Gainey steal into a Phillips dunk to suddenly push the Tennessee lead to 16 within a minute.

Chaz Lanier showed why he was one of the most sought-after players on the transfer portal in the offseason.

Lanier, who averaged 19.7 points per match at North Florida last season, flashed his potential as Tennessee’s offensive spark plug with 18 points. He highlighted several Vols’ runs to build their 27-point lead and finished 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from deep in 26 minutes on the floor.

Jordan Gainey got another offensive jolt in his 28 minutes off the bench. He finished just behind Lanier in scoring with 16 points on an impressive 7-of-9 shooting performance and added two rebounds and three steals on the defensive end.

Tennessee will turn its attention to its first road test this weekend against Louisville.

The Vols face the Cardinals under the first-year head coach Pat Kelsey Saturday at 12pm ET on the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville on the ACC Network.

Louisville, which opened its season against Morehead State on Monday, coming off an 8-24 season and 3-17 finish in ACC play.

KenPom projects the Vols to win, 76-72.