Chaz Lanier, No. 5 Tennessee look to take down LSU

No. 5 Tennessee showed its depth of weapons in its last game.The Volunteers (22-5, 9-5 Southeastern Conference) recorded their fifth win in six games on Saturday with a 77-69 victory over then-No. 7 Texas A&M. They’ll try to continue strengthening their case for a very high seed in the NCAA Tournament when they face LSU on Tuesday night in Baton Rouge, La.Chaz Lanier was the primary weapon against the Aggies, scoring a season-high 30 points while making 8-of-13 3-pointers and finishing 10-of-18 from the floor.”I was just super locked in for this game,” Lanier said. “I just saw that A&M was really sinking into the paint and my guys were just finding me at the 3-point line.”Lanier is the fourth-leading scorer in the SEC, ranks third in 3-point percentage and leads the conference in 3-pointers made.”All we wanted to do with Chaz is get him a little bit of separation,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “He has gotten so much better because he has seen all kinds of defenses.”But the senior transfer from North Florida doesn’t have do it by himself because of the Vols’ deep roster.Jordan Gainey scored 10 points in the final 6:12 and Zakai Zeigler finished with a team-leading seven assists. He scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer for a six-point lead with 21 seconds left. He also blocked a potential tying 3-pointer by Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV with 1:02 remaining.”It seems like the bigger the moment, he thrives on that,” Barnes said of Zeigler.LSU (14-13, 3-11) is hosting a Top 10 team for the second time in four days. The Tigers ended the first half with a 22-4 run to take a six-point halftime lead, then got outscored 48-28 by then-No. 2 Florida in the second half of a 79-65 loss Saturday.

Playlist