Game Recap: Men’s Basketball | December 03, 2024
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Wearing black “Dark Mode” uniforms for the first time in program history, the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team turned in an impressive 96-70 victory Tuesday night against Syracuse in the SEC/ACC Challenge.
Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier logged a game-high 26 points, tying a season best, for third-ranked Tennessee (8-0) in front of a sold-out crowd at Food City Center that saw the home team lead by double digits for the entire second half and by 20-plus for the final 13 minutes.
After conceding the opening basket of the evening, the Volunteers scored eight points in 46 seconds—the stretch included two three-point plays, the latter of which was an alley-oop dunk by Lanier. They later scored 10 straight points in 1:41, capped with a four-point play by senior guard Zakai Zeigler, to go up by 12, 30-18, with 8:50 on the first-half timer.
Syracuse (4-3) soon responded with a 7-0 surge in 1:11 to pull back within four at the 6:09 mark, but Tennessee tallied nine of the next 10 points over 2:04 to push the margin back to a dozen, 41-29, with 3:45 left before the break.
The Volunteers took a 10-point advantage, 45-35, into the locker room behind a combined 30 points from Lanier (11), sophomore forward Cade Phillips (10) and Zeigler (nine). Tennessee shot 11-of-13 (84.6 percent) at the line, while the Orange went 3-of-10 (30.0 percent) on free throws.
Early in the second frame, Tennessee used a 7-0 run to go ahead by 18, 57-39, with 15:40 remaining to take full command and upped the margin to 23, 73-50, with 10:38 left.
Shortly thereafter, the Volunteers, aided by back-to-back 3-pointers from Lanier, posted a 12-0 burst—the fourth time they scored at least seven consecutive points in the triumph—in 3:26 to extend the margin all the way to a game-best 32, 85-53, with 6:33 to go. At that time, they were 15-of-21 from the floor in the second half, including 7-of-11 from deep.
The Orange never got any closer than 22 the rest of the way and Tennessee scored six of the last eight points to claim the 26-point decision, its fourth-largest margin of victory this season.
Lanier scored his 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including a 5-of-8 mark in the second half that featured a stellar 4-of-5 long-range ledger. He added a season-high-tying four rebounds, two assists and one steal in the victory.
Zeigler, who entered the top 10 on Tennessee’s career made 3-pointers list, finished with 14 points, eight assists and a season-high four steals, pacing all players in the final two categories. Fellow senior guard Jordan Gainey totaled 12 points, all in a second half during which he shot 5-of-6 from the field and made both his 3-point attempts. He added six rebounds, one shy of his season best, and two assists.
Phillips, who made his first five field-goal attempts, ended the affair with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting to set a career best in makes, as well as pulled down six boards, blocked a game-high two shots and dished out two assists, with the latter two marks matching career highs. Senior forward Igor Miličić Jr., the Volunteers’ fifth double-digit scorer, registered a double-double with 11 points and a game-best 10 rebounds, adding two assists and shooting 6-of-7 at the line to set a season high in both makes and attempts.
Freshman guard Elijah Moore scored a career-best 24 points for Syracuse, finishing 8-of-12 from the floor, 3-of-6 beyond the arc and 5-of-6 at the line. Junior forward Chris Bell contributed 12 points, while freshman forward Donnie Freeman added 10.
The Volunteers shot 53.8 percent (35-of-65) in the win, including 61.3 percent (19-of-31) in the second stanza. They also notched a 34.5 percent (10-of-29) ledger from deep that featured a sizzling 57.1 percent (8-of-14) mark after the break.
Tennessee totaled a 40-26 edge on the glass, including a 13-5 margin on the offensive end that led to a 16-7 advantage in second-chance points. It also had a 44-28 cushion in paint points and a 19-10 ledger in points off turnovers, forcing 11 and committing just eight.
The Volunteers have a week until their next game, which is set for Dec. 10 at Madison Square Garden in New York against Miami in the Jimmy V Classic, with action televised live on ESPN.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS POSTGAME NOTES
• The Volunteers’ victory helped the SEC clinch the overall SEC/ACC Challenge on the opening night of the event, which featured just 10 of the 16 games.
• Playing its 600th all-time game at Food City Center, which opened in 1987-88, Tennessee moved to 458-142 (.763) in the venue.
• Tennessee, which logged its 14th sellout in the last three seasons (2022-25), improved to 32-14 all-time in Food City Center sellouts, including 31-12 since the 2007-08 capacity reduction and 21-6 in head coach Rick Barnes‘ 10-year tenure.
• In addition, the Volunteers are now 88-33 all-time when playing in front of 20,000-plus fans at Food City Center, including 29-9 under Barnes, with 23 of the latter 37 over the past four years (2021-25).
• The Volunteers improved to 5-3 all-time versus Syracuse and, after starting 1-3, have now won four straight games in the series, including claiming a victory in back-to-back years.
• Barnes now owns 182 wins over programs with a national championship, including 42 in his 10 years at Tennessee and four already—Louisville, Virginia, Baylor and Syracuse—this season.
• Barnes moved to 14-5 against ACC schools—based off the current membership—during his Tennessee tenure, including 13-2 versus all schools other than North Carolina.
• The Volunteers improved to 124-101 all-time versus current ACC institutions, including 7-1 over the last four seasons (2021-25) and 3-0 this year.
• The Volunteers are 8-0 for the first time in 24 years, going back to the 2000-01 campaign, which it started 9-0.
• Tennessee increased its non-conference home winning streak to 33 consecutive games, a stretch that dates to the 2020-21 season opener.
• The Volunteers now have 29 wins by at least 20 points over the last three seasons (2022-25), including 22 by 25-plus, 17 by 30-plus, 13 by 35-plus and five by 40-plus.
• Through eight games this year, the Volunteers have led for 303:50 and trailed for just 6:03 of a possible 320 minutes.
• All eight of Tennessee’s wins thus far are by 15-plus points, with six by at least 22 and three by at least 35.
• Tennessee has held a lead of 26-plus points in each of its eight contests this season and still has not faced a deficit larger than three.
• The Volunteers have held a halftime margin of nine-plus points in seven of their eight outings, including leading by double digits six times, 12-plus five times, 14-plus four times and 23-plus twice.
• Tennessee has now conceded 35 or fewer points in every first half this season, including 29 or fewer in five and 22 or fewer in three.
• Zeigler’s four-point play with 8:50 left in the first half was Tennessee’s first since March 6, 2024, when Dalton Knecht notched one in a win at South Carolina to help the Volunteers clinch the SEC regular season title.
• With his third and final 3-pointer of the night, a shot-clock buzzer-beating attempt with 1:59 to go, Zeigler reached 184 makes in his career, matching Admiral Schofield (2015-19) for No. 10 on the program’s all-time leaderboard.
• Phillips’ six made field goals surpassed the career best of five he recorded on seven attempts versus Austin Peay on Nov. 17, 2024, while his 12 points put him one shy of the 13 he scored in that same contest.
• This is the second consecutive outing in which Phillips has blocked two shots after he never did so previously as a collegian.
• Miličić recorded his 13th collegiate double-double, including his second as a Volunteer, as well as reached double-figure rebounds for the 17th time, including the third at Tennessee.
• Miličić’s prior season best in made free throws was four against Montana on Nov. 13 and versus Baylor on Nov. 21 in Nassau, Bahamas, while his top mark in attempts was six in the latter affair.
• Lanier—who tied the season-best point total he set Nov. 21 against Virginia in Nassau—now owns 11 performances of 25-plus points as a collegian and he has hit that mark in three of the last four games.
• After entering the night 7-of-8 from the line in seven outings as a Volunteer, Lanier went 6-of-8 on free throws versus the Orange.
• Redshirt junior guard Grant Hurst scored four points, making both of his field-goal attempts, marking the first time he has hit multiple shots as a Volunteer and giving him a basket in three consecutive home games.
