Lanier leads #11/9 tie past Virginia, 64-42

NASSAU, Bahamas – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team opened the Continental Tire Baha Mar Championship with a 64-42 victory Thursday night over Virginia.

Fifth year guard Chaz Lanier paced all scorers with 26 points, including 18 in the final 18 minutes, for the No. 11/9 Tennessee (5-0) at Baha Mar Convention Center.

The Volunteers used an 11-2 run in 4:23, including eight straight points in just 1:52, to take a 17-10 lead with 7:17 left in the first half. They held Virginia (3-1) without a field goal for 6:21, a span that included 4:09 without a point.

Tennessee took an eight-point edge, 22-14, with 2:51 left in the frame, but the Cavaliers scored the final seven points of the session, including a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, to make it a 22-21 ledger at the break. After being held to a 2-of-13 field-goal start with eight turnovers through 13-plus minutes, Virginia went 5-of-11 with just one giveaway during the session. Neither side shot over 30.0 percent in the first 20 minutes, but Tennessee had the edge in 3-point connections (four to two), while Virginia did so in free throws (five to zero).

The Volunteers opened the second half on a 15-3 run to go ahead by a then-best 13 points, 37-24, with 13:06 left. They got 11 straight points on four consecutive made field goals, including a trio of 3-pointers, from Lanier — putting him over 1,000 points as a collegian — to begin the surge, which also featured nine straight points in 2:46 .

Virginia responded shortly thereafter with an 8-0 run in just 1:32 — it also made four straight field goals after starting 8-of-30 through 27 minutes — to pull within five, 39-34, by 10: 48 left. However, the Volunteers quickly regained complete control.

Tennessee soon went on a dominating 18-0 spurt in just 5:16 to go ahead by a game-high 26 points, 64-38, with 1:43 left. The stretch came during a period in which it limited the Cavaliers to 1-of-13 shooting, with eight straight misses, following its four consecutive makes. The Volunteers held Virginia without a point for 6:22 and without a field goal for 7:06.

The Cavaliers scored the final four points, giving Tennessee a final margin of 22 points, its fourth straight victory by at least that many.

Lanier finished with 26 points, the most by a Volunteer this season, on 10-of-23 shooting, including a 6-of-12 long-range clip, and pulled down four rebounds. Senior forward Igor Miličić Jr.who spent his first year at Virginia in 2021-22, totaled 14 points and eight rebounds. He shot 5-of-10 from the floor, 2-of-3 beyond the arc and 2-of-2 at the line, plus dished out three assists.

Older guard Jahmai Mashack stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, five rebounds, a career-high four steals and two blocks. He also served as the primary defender on Virginia junior guard Isaac McKneely, who had just four points on 1-of-6 field-goal shooting after entering the night averaging a team-best 16.0 per game. match.

Sophomore guard Dai Dai Ames was the lone Cavalier to reach double figures, finishing the contest with 12 points.

Tennessee limited Virginia to just 28.6 percent (14-of-47) shooting on the night, including a 27.6 percent (8-of-29) ledger from inside the arc. It also registered a spectacular 30-2 margin in points off turnovers, forcing 18 and committing just seven. For the third time in 2024-25, the Volunteers did not concede a fast-break point.

The 42 points for Virginia tied for the second-lowest point total by a Power Six foe against Tennessee in a head coach Rick Barnes10 years at the helm. In addition, Tennessee went without a live-ball turnover for the third time in the last 20 seasons (2005-25) as the Cavaliers did not record a single steal.

The volunteers are back in action on Friday at 21.30 in the Continental Tire Baha Mar Championship title match against no. 13/14 Baylor, live on CBS Sports Network.

To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops Instagram and X/Twitteras well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEER POSTGAME NOTES
• Thursday’s match started at 10:25 p.m., 55 minutes after the scheduled time, when the previous Baylor/St. John’s contest went to double overtime, ending after midnight on Friday.
• Barnes now has 180 wins over programs with a national championship, including 40 in his 10 years at Tennessee.
• Barnes improved to 13-5 against ACC schools – based on the current membership – during his Tennessee tenure, including 12-2 against all schools other than North Carolina.
• The Volunteers moved to 123-101 all-time against current ACC institutions, including 6-1 over the last four seasons (2021-25).
• Competing at the Baha Mar Championship for the first time, the Volunteers improved to 8-2 all-time in the Bahamas and now have five straight wins, with each of the previous nine games coming in the previous 10 seasons at Battle 4 Atlantis .
• The Volunteers are now 11-10 across nine multi-team events in Barnes’ 10 years, including 8-5 outside the continental United States and 6-1 in the Bahamas.
• Tennessee has now won its first five games of the season for the third time in the last six campaigns, joining 2019-20 (5-0) and 2020-21 (7-0).
• As announced before tip-off, Tennessee played without a sophomore guard Cameron Carris out 4-6 weeks with a left thumb injury, and second year forward JP Estrellawhich continues to be evaluated for a left foot injury.
• The Volunteers are now 22-0 under Barnes when holding their opponents to 30.0 shooting or less, the 11th time they have accomplished the feat against a Power Six foe.
• Additionally, it is the 17th time a Barnes-led Tennessee team has held its opponent to under 29.0 percent shooting, the eighth time against a Power Six team and the second time it has done so against both ACC schools it has played – in 2024-25.
• Tennessee moved to 30-0 under Barnes when holding its opponent under 50 points, the 12th time it has held a Power Six team under that number during his tenure.
• Additionally, the Volunteers have now held their foe to 45 or fewer points 20 times under Barnes, including the ninth time against a Power Six team.
• Virginia’s 42 points tied for eighth-fewest by a Tennessee opponent in the Barnes era, including matching the second-lowest point total by a Power Six team, matching the mark set at South Carolina on Jan. 7, 2023 and trailing only 41 against Georgia on 25 .January 2023.
• Thursday marked the seventh time in the Barnes era that the Volunteers have allowed 42 or fewer points and allowed a field goal clip of 28.0 percent or less, including just the second time against a Power Six team along with a Jan. 7, 2023 , excursion in South Carolina.
• The other two times in the last 20 years (2005-25) the Volunteers allowed zero steals were Feb. 26, 2015 vs. Vanderbilt and Feb. 26, 2008 at Vanderbilt.
• Tennessee has won both of its games against ACC foes this year by exactly 22 points, winning at Louisville, 77-55, on Nov. 9.
• Fifth year senior guard Darlingstone Dubarwho missed the first four games of the season due to a personal matter, made his Tennessee debut with 15:00 left in the first half and 20 seconds later, on his first offensive possession, threw down a putback dunk, en route to finishing with four points and three rebounds.
• Neither team scored for nearly the first three minutes as Mashack put the first points on the board with 17:04 on the clock.
• Lanier scored Tennessee’s first eight points of the second half, connecting on three straight shots to give him 16 in the game at the time, pushing his career total to 1,000, reaching that mark on a baseline jump shot with 15:52 left back.
• For Lanier, Thursday marked the ninth 25-point performance of his career, including his first as a Volunteer.
• Miličić has tallied at least 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists in each of the last three contests.
• Supervised Zakai Zeigler led all players with six assists, the 50th time in his career he has posted five-plus.
• Senior guard Jordan Gainey pulled down a career-high seven rebounds five times during his tenure at USC Upstate, most recently on Dec. 20, 2022 at Kennesaw State.