Chaz Lanier rose from The Summitt floor on Monday night as if he were trying to top a Christmas tree with an angel. But this leap came with bad intentions.
The star Tennessee guard wanted to send a message by dunking on a Middle Tennessee State player in the midst of a surprise fight from the in-state foe. Lanier couldn’t complete the dunk. Instead, he was fouled and made both of his free throws.
Lanier’s first free throw tied the game. The second gave the Vols the lead after trailing by six at the half. It was the beginning of an eruption from Lanier.
Moments later, the mid-state native stood tall on the defensive end to force his defender into a missed shot at the rim. Lanier trailed Zakai Zeigler back down the floor, received the one-handed behind-the-back feed from the Tennessee point guard and buried a deep three to send the crowd inside of Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center into a frenzy.
Lanier’s surge was part of a 19-11 run to begin the second half. It triggered an 82-64 win for No. 1 Tennessee basketball over Middle Tennessee State to remain one of four undefeated teams in college basketball. UT outscored MTSU in the second half 48-24 to extend its winning streak to 12 and begin the season 12-0 for just the third time.
Here are our takeaways from Tennessee’s (12-0) win over Middle Tennessee State (9-4) for the third-best start in program history.
These takeaways will continue to be updated throughout postgame.
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