Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier, playing in his hometown, scored a team-high 17 points for sixth-ranked Tennessee (16-2, 3-2 SEC), which had multiple chances to tie the game in the closing seconds after trailing by 16 with under 11 minutes to go and by 10 with fewer than four minutes left.
Vanderbilt (15-3, 3-2 SEC) scored the first five points, but the Volunteers quickly shrugged off the slow start. Tennessee made five consecutive 3-pointers, three of which were during an 11-1 run in 2:50 that gave it a game-high eight-point edge, 19-11, with 12:21 on the first-half clock. It also did not allow a made field goal for 5:03, forcing six straight misses until the 10:20 mark.
The Commodores, though, answered right back and soon used an 11-0 run in 4:08 to go up by seven, 35-28, with 2:21 to play. They held Tennessee scoreless for a span of 5:03, during which the visitors missed all five of their field goals and both their free throws, plus committed three turnovers.
The Volunteers cut the margin to two with 26 ticks left in the half, but Vanderbilt ended the frame with a four-point play three seconds before the horn to go up by six, 41-35, at the intermission. Tennessee shot 7-of-14 (50.0 percent) from deep in the opening half and allowed just a 3-of-11 (27.3 percent) mark at the other end, but it went 6-of-8 (75.0 percent) at the line compared to Vanderbilt’s 12-of-14 (85.7 percent) tally and conceded a 10-5 margin in second-chance points.
Senior forward Igor Miličić Jr., scored the first five points of the second frame to make it 41-40, but Vanderbilt responded with back-to-back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers in just 1:37 to take a 13-point lead, 53-40, with 16:39 to go. The Volunteers twice got the deficit down to nine, but Vanderbilt pushed it up to a game-best 16, 68-52, with 10:57 remaining.
Tennessee thrice sliced the deficit to eight, but did not make it down to a two-possession game until the clock showed 1:39, when a layup by Miličić trimmed the margin to six. Tennessee stole the ensuing inbounds pass and Lanier hit a layup of his own to bring the score to 76-72 just 10 seconds later.
After a defensive stop, senior guard Zakai Zeigler connected on a pair of free throws with 45.1 ticks to go, cutting the margin to two, 76-74. Tennessee forced another miss and got…
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