LEXINGTON, Ky. — Chaz Lanier fell just a point shy of his season-high with 29 points while Zakai Zeigler had 12 points and 12 assists to lead No. 2 Tennessee to a 77-62 first-round win over No. 15 Wofford in the Midwest Region on Thursday night at Rupp Arena.
Lanier’s 3-pointer with 2:50 remaining iced Tennessee’s fourth win in five games and sent the Volunteers (28-7) onto the second round on Saturday in Lexington, where they will play either No. 7 UCLA or No. 10 Utah State.
Lanier nearly matched his 17.7-point average in the first half, draining three 3-pointers and totaling 14 points to help Tennessee to a comfortable double-digit lead.
Zeigler, now with 726 career assists, needed just two in the game to pass Johnny Darden (1975-79) for the all-time school record.
“It was a big blessing,” Zeigler said. “We knew that was going to be there. We watched a lot of film. I gotta give a lot to my coaches and my teammates, just seeing an open guy and not trying to force too much. Breaking a record that was 50 years old is a really big blessing and it means a lot to me.”
Jackson Sivills led Wofford (19-16) with 15 points and five rebounds. Corey Tripp added 14 and Jeremy Lorenz had 12 for the Terriers, who won the Southern Conference as a six seed.
The win was the second for Tennessee over Wofford in two seasons as the Volunteers beat the Terriers early in the 2023-24 season.
“I thought a year ago with having Jahmai (Mashack) and Z playing against those guys — because we had a close game against them at our place earlier in the year last year,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said.
“Going back to look at that, I know our players had the utmost respect for Wofford coming in. We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game because those guys have much improved from a year ago. Proud of our guys for having to grind it out the way we did tonight.”
Justin Bailey’s layup brought Wofford within two, 10-8, with just over 13 minutes left in the first half. But then Bailey and the Terriers went ice cold from the field and free-throw line, allowing Tennessee to pull away with a 12-0 run to open a 22-8 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
Amid the Tennessee surge, Bailey was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer and missed all three free throws.
A Corey Tripp triple with 12:45 left in the second half cut Tennessee’s lead to single digits at 52-43. But Lanier sparked a 9-2 run with back-to-back jumpers that pushed the Volunteers’ advantage back to 16.
Wofford relied on 3-point shooting to stay in striking distance but could only get as close nine points, 64-55, on a Jeremy Lorenz 3-pointer with 8:19 left.
Six straight points from Tennessee, however, secured a 70-55 lead with four minutes left as the Volunteers cruised to the win.
“There is not going to be one game that’s going to define what this team accomplished, and at the end of the day, there is only six teams in Wofford basketball history that can say they played on this stage,” Wofford coach Dwight Perry said. “In a program that is rich in history and tradition for this group, for these guys up here, and the guys in the locker room to be able to etch their name in Wofford basketball history is something that nobody can take away.”
–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media
