Chaz Lanier’s season-high 30 leads Tennessee past Texas A&M
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Chaz Lanier had a season-high 30 points, including eight 3-pointers, and No. 6 Tennessee defeated No. 7 Texas A&M 77-69 on Saturday.
Lanier, a senior transfer from North Florida, went 8-of-13 from beyond the arc and 10-of-18 overall in game that featured 11 lead changes and eight ties. Lanier’s eight 3s were the most by a Tennessee player since Jordan McRae in 2013, who made eight in a loss to Georgia, according to ESPN Research.
“Really proud of our guys today where, again, I thought they were very resilient,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, who won his 50th career game over an AP Top-10 team, the 11th coach to reach the mark. “We didn’t get off to the start we wanted, but again, that happens. But we kept our poise.”
Jordan Gainey made a 3-pointer with 3:33 to left to give Tennessee (22-5, 9-5 Southeastern Conference) a 63-59 lead. Zakai Zeigler hit a 3 in front of the Vols’ bench on an inbound pass with 21 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
“We’ve seen him do it,” Barnes said. “It seems like the bigger the moment, he thrives on that.”
The Aggies (20-7, 9-5) started the game with three consecutive dunks before the Vols finally scored a little more than three minutes into the raucous setting at Reed Arena.
A&M led 17-8 early before the Vols scored the next seven points to climb back in the game.
Wade Taylor IV led the Aggies with 18 points, despite missing all nine of his 3-point attempts.
Takeaways
Texas A&M: The Aggies were coming off a 16-point loss at No. 21 Mississippi State that snapped a five-game winning streak, and they’ve lost two straight games for the first time since mid-January (at home against Alabama and at Kentucky). A&M, despite failing to collect its first home victory against a top-10 opponent in program history, likely won’t be affected much in the NCAA Tournament seedings.
Tennessee: The Volunteers hadn’t played since an 81-76 home victory over Vanderbilt a week earlier, and the rested crew appeared to have more energy and spirit from the start against the Aggies.
Key moment
The Aggies led 40-38 with 15:27 remaining when Tennessee’s Jahmai Mashack collected an acrobatic, improbable tip-in while trying to grab the rebound off a Gainey missed 3-pointer.
“I thought Jahmai Mashack’s two tips were huge,” Barnes said. “They were huge and a lot of people wouldn’t notice that, but maybe the two biggest plays of the game.”
Key stat
Both teams made 90% of their free throws, each hitting 18 of 20.
Up next The Volunteers play at LSU on Tuesday night. The Aggies host Vanderbilt on Wednesday night.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
The Fresno State men’s basketball program has drawn scrutiny for potential ties to sports gambling, sources confirmed to ESPN on Saturday.
The NCAA and university are both investigating, sources said, and the school has removed one player from the team and suspended two others for at least Saturday’s game against Air Force.
The investigation came about because of a tip to Fresno State, which then launched its internal investigation, a source told ESPN. The school subsequently involved the NCAA.
Fresno State said in a statement that guards Jalen Weaver and Zaon Collins were “being withheld from competition as the University reviews an eligibility matter.”
Weaver (12.5 PPG) and Collins (12 PPG) are two of Fresno State’s top three scorers. Collins also leads the team with 4.7 assists per game.
A third former Bulldogs player, Mykell Robinson, is also under investigation. Robinson, who was averaging 10.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, had not played for Fresno State since Jan. 11 and is no longer on the team.
The Fresno Bee first reported on the investigation into the program.
Fresno State is playing through a historically bad season in school history. The Bulldogs have lost nine straight games to fall to 5-22 (1-15 MWC). Their defeat in their last game, by 23 on Wednesday against San Diego State, set a program record for most losses in a season.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel contributed to this report.
ESPN
How Zakai Zeigler sealed Tennessee basketball’s best road win of season at Texas A&M
Zakai Zeigler made two game-deciding plays in the final 62 seconds Saturday.
The Tennessee basketball guard blocked a 3-point attempt out of a timeout from Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV with 1:02 to play at Reed Arena. Forty-one seconds later, Zeigler came out of a timeout and decisively knocked down a 3-point dagger to ensure the Vols would get their best road win of the season.
The No. 6 Vols grabbed a signature win at No. 7 Texas A&M, beating the Aggies 77-69 in a win that’ll help Tennessee in its chase for the first NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed in program history.
Chaz Lanier led the Vols (22-5, 9-5 SEC) with a season-high 30 points and a career-high eight 3-pointers. Zeigler had 16 points with 13 in the second half. He was 10-for-12 on free throws in the second half and had five assists with one turnover to mirror his second-half brilliance against Vanderbilt a week prior.
Jordan Gainey had 14 points with a pair of 3-pointers in the final 3:33 against Texas A&M (20-7, 9-5).
Lanier delivered a first half reminiscent of his first half against Baylor in the Baha Mar Championship in the Bahamas. He hit six 3-pointers, buoying a stagnant Tennessee offense into the game. He was 6-for-7 on 3-pointers and 8-for-10 shooting.
He made two more in the second half to hit a career-high eight 3-pointers. It was his fourth game with at least six 3-pointers at Tennessee.
Lanier’s seventh 3-pointer with 7:56 to play tied the game 51-51. He hit his eighth with 4:19 to play put Tennessee ahead 60-57.
Lanier made seven first-half 3-pointers against Baylor in November.
Texas A&M is the nation’s best offensive rebounding team. The Aggies got their share of their misses, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds on their 36 missed shots.
But Tennessee limited the Aggies’ second-chance scoring to only 10 points, minimizing the hard done by the offensive rebounds.
Tennessee was mired in misses and turnovers to open against Texas A&M. It opened 4-for-15 shooting with three Lanier 3-pointers.
BRACKET: Tennessee basketball a ‘realistic’ No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi says
He hit his fourth 3-pointer of the half with 7:15 before halftime to start a Tennessee run.
The Vols were 8-for-10 shooting to close the half. Lanier made five of the eight field goals, including three 3-pointers.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee basketball, Chaz Lanier top Texas A&M for Vols best road win
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Chaz Lanier had a season-high 30 points at Tennessee
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Alabama vs. Kentucky FREE LIVE STREAM (2/22/25): Watch college basketball online| Time, TV channel
Alabama’s Mark Sears, left, looks for an opening on Kentucky’s Lamont Butler, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Crisp)AP
No. 4 Alabama hosts No. 17 Kentucky in an SEC men’s college basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
How to watch: Fans can watch the game on ESPN with a free of FuboTV or DirecTV Stream.
Here’s what you need to know:
What: College men’s basketball
Who: Alabama vs. Kentucky
When: Feb. 22, 2025
Where: Coleman Coliseum
Time: 6 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: DirecTV Stream and FuboTV
Here’s a recent AP story on college basketball:
Auburn’s win at Alabama assured the Tigers would keep the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for a sixth consecutive week.
The Tigers (23-2) received 59 of 60 first-place votes in Monday’s poll, reclaiming nearly all the support lost when they fell at home to Florida on Feb. 8. Auburn had been the unanimous No. 1 for three straight weeks before that loss, but remained at the top last week despite seeing nearly half of those first-place votes go primarily to Alabama, with a few to Florida and Tennessee.
But the Tigers won Saturday in a 1-vs.-2 road matchup against the rival Crimson Tide, hours after the committee that will choose the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament put Auburn as its No. 1 overall seed in its preliminary rankings.
The two teams to beat the Tigers sit right behind them. Florida and Duke were tied for third last week, and the Gators inched past the Blue Devils to break that tie and take the No. 2 spot while claiming the remaining first-place vote.
Alabama fell to No. 4, followed by Houston, Tennessee, Texas A&M — with its highest ranking since December 2017 — Iowa State, Texas Tech and St. John’s to round out the top 10.
Of that group, the Red Raiders represented the only change from last week’s set of teams, climbing three spots to replace Purdue for their first top-10 appearance in three years. Grant McCasland’s squad, which has lost just twice since the start of 2025, was unranked until cracking the poll at No. 22 on Jan. 27.
Michigan had the week’s biggest jump among ranked teams, climbing eight spots to No. 12 after beating Purdue last week and pushing its win streak to six games.
No. 15 Missouri jumped six spots, while No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 18 Clemson and No. 20 Maryland each rose five spots.
In all, 12 teams moved up from their position last week.
Memphis took the biggest tumble of the week, falling eight spots to No. 22 after its overtime loss at Wichita State ended an eight-game winning streak.
No. 13 Purdue, No. 19 Arizona and No. 23 Kansas — the preseason No. 1-ranked team — all fell six spots, while No. 24 Mississippi tumbled five.
Ten teams fell from last week’s poll.
No. 25 Louisville was the week’s lone new addition, returning to the poll for the second time after a two-week stint in January. First-year coach Pat Kelsey has guided the program to its first 20-win season since 2019-20, with the Cardinals having lost just once since mid-December.
Creighton (No. 24) fell out of the rankings for the second time this season. The Bluejays were ranked for the first four weeks, then returned last week for what turned out to be a one-week stay.
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The Southeastern Conference had a national-best nine teams, including three of the top four and five of the top 10. The Big 12 and Big Ten each had five teams, though the Big 12 had three in the top 10 while the highest-ranked Big Ten team checked in at 11th.
The Atlantic Coast Conference had three, followed by the Big East with two and the American Athletic Conference with one.
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