No. 11 Tennessee runs away from Virginia in the Baha Mar Championship

Tennessee and Virginia lacked the theatrics there Baylor and St. John’s had in the game for them late Thursday night. The Vols probably preferred it that way.

Eleventh-ranked Tennessee, in Game 2 of the Baha Mar Championship in Nassau, Bahamas, had its start against the Cavaliers pushed back nearly an hour due to double overtime in Game 1. If that contributed to a sluggish offensive start for the Vols, Chaz Lanier overshadowed it.

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The senior guard again headlined Tennessee (5-0) on the offensive end, igniting a second-half spark as the Vols rode to a 64-42 victory over Virginia to advance to the Baha Mar Championship Game.

Lanier scored 26 points on 10-of-23 shooting from the field and 6-of-12 from three-point range. Igor Milicic Jr. finished in double figures and just shy of another double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds as both players contributed to Tennessee’s second half.

The Virginia offense, meanwhile, wasn’t quite able to get into a rhythm outside of a couple of runs. That was largely due to the Vols’ suffocating defense. Jahmai Mashack held the Cavaliers’ leading scorer Isaac McKneely well below his season average by just 4 points.

Virginia (3-1) shot 29% from the field and turned the ball over 18 times as Tennessee won the rebounding battle, 42-33.

In a clash between two teams that pride themselves on defence, it took more than two minutes for both to score.

Jahmai Mashack opened the scoring for Tennessee, but Virginia answered to take the lead Elijah Saunders 3-pointer with just under 17 minutes left in the first half.

Igor Milicic Jr. hit a jumper to put the Vols back in front and Darlingstone Dubarwho made his first appearance since the exhibition match against Indiana last month, scored on a put-back dunk just seconds after coming off the bench.

Tennessee didn’t score again for nearly three minutes, allowing Virginia to take a stretch lead. Chaz Lanier ended the drought with a jumper and opened the way for an 8-0 run that included back-to-back threes from Lanier and Milicic to lead 14-8 near the midway point of the half.

There were times when it looked like the Vols were on the verge of pulling away before the break. Their defense held Virginia to just 21% shooting from the field late in the half, and a Dubar layup stretched Tennessee’s lead to eight with 2:51 on the clock.

But the Vols had their own offensive woes down the stretch, and the Cavaliers used a 7-0 run capped by an Andrew Rhode three at the buzzer to trim Tennessee’s lead to 22-21 at halftime.

The second half began much like the first. Tennessee kept the ball on its end of the floor, aided by Virginia mistakes and a couple of potential rebounds that ended up out of bounds. A defensive stand by the Vols at the other end set up the first points of the half for both teams on a Lanier three.

Lanier provided an offensive spark again, nailing another 3-pointer and suddenly Tennessee was up 28-21 with about 16 minutes left.

Isaac McKneelycoming off a quiet first half, capped the Vols’ run with a 3-pointer late in the shot clock, but Zakai Zeigler answered with a jumper that rattled around before going in off the glass to extend Tennessee’s lead to 30-24.

Lanier made his fourth basket of the half in less than five minutes with a corner kick that put him over 1,000 career points. It was followed by a Felix Okpara jumper — his first point — and the Vols had a double-digit advantage, 35-24.

Virginia didn’t go away, though. Tennessee’s 11-point lead was cut to five by a Taine Muarray three before Milicic provided a much-needed answer with his second three that helped open another run that put the Vols back up 10 with 9:14 left.

Virginia pulled within eight with less than eight minutes remaining, but that was as close as the Cavaliers got. Tennessee pulled away and turned a slugfest into a rout behind a commanding 18-3 run over six minutes that also included a 14-0 run to go up 60-38 with under four minutes left.

Tennessee faces another test in the Baha Mar title game on Friday.

The Vols will play Baylor no. 12 in their first meeting against a ranked team in their first six games. The Bears needed double overtime to beat No. 22 St. John’s in game 1, and won on Jeremy Roach‘s go-ahead 3-pointer at the buzzer to win 99-98.

Tip-off between Tennessee and Baylor is scheduled for 9:30 PM ET on CBS Sports Network.