KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team defeated Vanderbilt, 81-76, Saturday afternoon at a sold-out Food City Center, storming back from a 16-point deficit in the last minute of the opening half and a 13-point margin at the break.
Senior guard Zakai Zeigler, who entered the top five on the SEC’s career assists leaderboard in the victory, had a season-high 22 points, all in the second half, and a game-best eight assists for No. 5/4 Tennessee (21-5, 8-5 SEC) at a sold-out Food City Center.
Vanderbilt (17-8, 5-7 SEC) scored the opening six points in the first 55 seconds and, behind a 7-of-9 field-goal ledger that included making all three of its 3-point attempts, built an 18-11 advantage through five minutes. It pushed the mark to 11-of-19 overall, with a 5-of-8 long-range mark, and went on an 8-0 run in 75 seconds to take a 13-point edge, 30-17, with 8:26 on the first-half timer.
The Commodores extended their margin to a game-high 16 points, 38-22, with 14:24 left in the half. It remained 16 with under one minute to go in the stanza, before the Volunteers scored five of the final seven points to make it 44-31 at the intermission.
Tennessee shot 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from the floor, with a 40.0 percent (4-of-10) count beyond the arc, through 20 minutes, but conceded 54.8 percent (17-of-31) and 50.0 percent (6-of-12) respective figures at the other end. The home team also got outscored, 7-0, in second-chance points.
The Volunteers twice cut the deficit to nine in the first four minutes of the second half, but both times Vanderbilt junior Tyler Nickel answered with a 3-pointer. Following the second one, though, Tennessee went on a 9-0 run in 3:16 to get the lead down to three, 50-47, with 12:30 to go. After Vanderbilt snapped a scoreless drought of 4:04, Zeigler drilled a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game, 52-50, with 11:39 left and push the run to 12-2 in 4:10.
Shortly thereafter, Zeigler hit another 3-pointer to level the score at 55 with 9:41 remaining. Tennessee then took its first lead, 57-55 with 8:57 to go, on a layup by fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier to cap a 7-0 run in 1:33.
Vanderbilt regained the edge, 59-58, with 7:07 to play, but Tennessee scored nine of the next 13 points to go up by four, 67-63, on a Lanier 3-pointer 2:08 later. Vanderbilt evened the score at 67 with 3:55 to play and went in front, 70-69, on a 3-pointer by junior Jason Edwards with 3:10 on the clock.
Zeigler hit two free throws 13 ticks later to put Tennessee back ahead and then, after a defensive stop, hit Jahmai Mashack for a corner 3-pointer that made it 74-70 with 2:27 left. Fellow senior guard Jordan Gainey gave the Volunteers a game-best six-point advantage on a layup just 59 seconds after that, but Edwards responded with a 3-pointer at the other end, slicing the margin to 76-73 with 1:20 to go.
Zeigler then put up two points from the line, but Edwards connected on another 3-pointer to make it 78-76 with 45 ticks remaining. Zeigler once again responded, this time with a layup to double the lead with 19 seconds to play. The Volunteers got a stop at the other end and Lanier added a free throw with 7.6 ticks on timer to seal the win.
Tennessee went 7-of-7 from the field and 7-of-10 at the line over the final seven minutes, with Zeigler posting 3-of-3 and 4-of-4 respective tallies of his own. In total, the Long Island, N.Y., native shot 7-of-9 from the floor, 3-of-4 beyond the arc and 5-of-6 at the stripe in the second half to become the first Volunteer with 20-plus points after the break since Dalton Knecht on March 9, 2024.
Lanier finished with 21 points, his 10th time reaching that number in 2024-25, on 9-of-16 shooting and pulled down a season-high eight rebounds. Senior forward Igor Miličić Jr., added 10 points in the victory, while Mashack had nine on 3-of-4 shooting to go along with six rebounds.
Edwards led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including a 6-of-10 ledger from beyond the arc to give him the most made 3-pointers by a Tennessee foe this season. Sophomore Jaylen Carey had 18 points and a team-best seven rebounds. He shot 5-of-6 from the floor, making his lone 3-pointer, and 7-of-9 from the line before fouling out. Nickel and graduate Chris Mañon each had nine points, the latter notching all his before the break.
Tennessee’s victory marked its first time winning after trailing by 15-plus since March 3, 2020, when it defeated sixth-ranked Kentucky, 81-73, in Lexington, Ky., after facing a 17-point first-half deficit. That was also the last time the Volunteers won after trailing by double digits at the break, as it rallied back from an 11-point margin through 20 minutes.
The two sides combined for just 11 turnovers in the contest, with Tennessee committing just five and forcing six. The victors, who had 17 assists, shot 65.4 percent (17-of-26) in the second half to conclude the afternoon with a 55.8 percent (29-of-52) ledger.
The Volunteers have a midweek bye before returning to action Feb. 22 at No. 8/9 Texas A&M, live on ESPN at noon ET from Reed Arena in Bryan-College Station, Texas.
