Lexington, KY – The second-seeded Tennessee men’s basketball team began its program-record seventh straight NCAA Tournament berth Thursday night with a wire-to-wire victory, 77-62, over No. 15-seeded Wofford at Rupp Arena.
Sixth-ranked Tennessee (28-7, 12-6 SEC) led for all but the first 13 seconds of the victory, claiming a spot in the Round of 32 for the fourth straight season. Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier dropped 29 points, the third-most by a Volunteer in NCAA Tournament play, while senior guard Zakai Zeigler had a 12-point, 12-assist double-double and broke the school record for career assists in the triumph.
The Volunteers, midway through the first half, scored 12 straight points—seven came from Lanier—in 2:58 to claim a 22-8 advantage with 11:02 on the timer. The stretch came during a span of six straight made field goals.
Wofford (19-16, 10-8 SOCON), after a 3:55 scoreless drought, responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to make it an eight-point game just 65 ticks later, but Tennessee thrice stretched the margin back to 13. The Terriers got the margin down to eight twice more before the Volunteers took a nine-point edge 36-27, into the break behind 14 points from Lanier and a 5-0 margin in points off turnovers, despite the teams posting four apiece.
Just 4:27 into the second stanza, the Volunteers got the lead back to 14, but Wofford countered with a three-point play and a 3-pointer in 89 seconds to make it 48-40 with 13:33 to go. Tennessee regained control and built the cushion to a then-game-best 16, 61-45, with 10:35 left during a span in which it hit six consecutive field-goal attempts.
The Terriers soon made three shots in a row on their end to get it down to nine, but junior forward Felix Okpara threw down dunks on the next to possession to give Tennessee a 13-point margin, 68-55, with 7:08 to play. The victors went up by 17 with 1:58 to go and then by a game-high 18 with 41 ticks on the timer, after which Wofford hit a 3-pointer to close the scoring and make it a 15-point final margin.
Lanier’s 29 points, the most ever by a Volunteer in an NCAA Tournament win, came on an 11-of-22 field-goal clip to match his career best in makes. He shot 6-of-13 from long range to tie the most single-game 3-point makes in the NCAA Tournament in program history. The Nashville, Tenn., native added five rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block in the win.
Zeigler scored his 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor, including a 2-of-5 mark from deep, and a perfect 2-of-2 showing at the line. The 12 assists, his fifth-most as a collegian and third-highest total of 2024-25, tied for the second-most by a Volunteer in NCAA Tournament competition. The Long Island, N.Y., native, who committed zero turnovers in 37 minutes and notched two assists, is the sixth player in the last 50 seasons (1975-2025), per Elias Sports Bureau, with 12 points, 12 assists and no turnovers in an NCAA Tournament affair.
Senior guard Jahmai Mashack added nine points, a game-best seven rebounds and two steals in the triumph.
Jackson Sivills, playing in his home state, paced the Terriers with 15 points. Fellow senior guard Corey Tripp had 14, but Tennessee held him to 6-of-17 field-goal shooting. Sophomore forward Jeremy Lorenz registered 12 points and junior guard Justin Bailey scored 10, with both shooting 4-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-3 beyond the arc.
Both sides made double-digit 3-pointers—Wofford went 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) and Tennessee shot 10-of-28 (35.7 percent)—but the Volunteers had a plus-10 margin in points at the line. They shot 15-of-22 (68.2 percent) compared to the Terriers’ 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) ledger.
Tennessee, which shot 26-of-54 (48.1 percent) overall, also did not allow a single point on the fast break or via turnover, ending the night with 3-0 and 14-0 tallies, respectively.
Next Up For UT Men’s Basketball
The Tennessee Vols basketball team will take on either seventh-seeded UCLA or No. 10-seeded UCLA in the Round of 32, with the time and TV network for Saturday’s contest still to be determined.
To keep up with the Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
