#12 Vols Defeat Gardner-Webb, 80-64, in Season Opener
Courtesy / UT Athletics

#12 Vols Defeat Gardner-Webb, 80-64, in Season Opener

November 5, 2024

Game Recap: Men’s Basketball | November 04, 2024

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team officially started its 2024-25 campaign Monday night with an 80-64 victory over Gardner-Webb.

Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier, in his program debut, scored a team-high 18 points for No. 12 Tennessee (1-0), which never trailed and led for all but 62 seconds, as it improved to 35-3 all-time in home openers at Food City Center.

After a tightly contested opening 11 minutes, a personal 8-0 run from Lanier in just 71 seconds put the Volunteers ahead by a dozen, 30-18, with 7:32 remaining in the first half. Gardner-Webb (0-1) scored the next six points to slice the deficit in half with 5:16 on the timer, but Tennessee quickly regained control.

Senior guard Zakai Zeigler led a 12-4 surge over 3:17 in which he scored half the points and assisted on the other half, helping the home team go up by 14, 42-28, with 1:52 left in the session. The lead remained in double digits, 44-32, at the intermission behind a combined 21 points from Lanier (11) and Zeigler (10) during a session in which Tennessee shot 15-of-31 (48.4 percent) from the floor.

The Volunteers scored all seven points in the opening 1:56 of the second half to go ahead by 19, 51-32. Gardner-Webb scored the next five points to cut the deficit to 14, but the home team once again grabbed command right back.

Tennessee stretched its lead all the way to 27, 71-44, with 8:39 to play after making eight consecutive field goals, including three by Lanier and senior guard Jordan Gainey. The Runnin’ Bulldogs did eventually, via a 10-0 run in 2:20, get the margin down to 13, 75-62, with 3:10 remaining, but the outcome never fell into question. Tennessee ultimately went on to take a 16-point victory, its eighth straight year earning a season-opening win by at least 15.

Lanier tallied his 18 points on a 7-of-12 field-clip, including a 4-of-6 mark from beyond the arc. Gainey tallied 16 points, two shy of his top total as a Volunteer, on a dazzling 7-of-9 ledger from the floor, adding three steals.

Zeigler notched 13 points and nine assists, finishing just short of his ninth-career double-double and logging more assists than Gardner-Webb’s whole team. Fellow senior guard Jahmai Mashack scored 10 points, shooting 2-of-4 from deep and making all four of his free throws, while adding a career-high-tying four steals. Junior forward Felix Okpara paced all players with nine rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end, in his Tennessee debut.

Sophomore guard Darryl Simmons II led all scorers with 22 points for Gardner-Webb, finishing 8-of-16 from the floor, 4-of-10 on 3-pointers and 2-of-2 at the line. Graduate forward Jamaine Mann and junior guard Deshawn Goodwyn each posted 13 points on a 4-of-8 ledger in the setback. The Volunteers held the rest of the Gardner-Webb roster to an 8-of-23 (34.8 percent) mark on field goals.

Tennessee finished with a 13-0 margin in fast-break points and a 29-14 advantage in bench points, while shooting 28-of-55 (50.9 percent) from the field.

The Volunteers open their road slate Saturday in Louisville, Ky., when they take the court at the KFC Yum! Center to face Louisville, live on ACC Network.

To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS POSTGAME NOTES
• Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes now owns 807 victories in his career, passing Eddie Sutton for sole possession of No. 13 on the all-time wins list (min. five years at a Division I school).
• Barnes also moved to 203-101 in his Tennessee tenure, putting him one win behind Don Devoe (204-137 from 1978-89) for second place on the program’s all-time leaderboard.
• The Volunteers improved to 35-3 (.921) all-time in home openers at Food City Center, dating back to its opening in 1987-88, including 32-1 (.970) in their last 33 such games and 9-1 (.900) under Barnes).
• Excluding the capacity-reduced COVID-19 campaign in 2020-21, Tennessee is now averaging 16,813 fans across 37 home openers at Food City Center, after 17,8313 attended Monday’s contest.
• Tennessee has now won its last four season openers, all at home, by a combined 114 points, good for an average of 28.5 per game.
• The Volunteers moved to 29-0 all-time against current Big South members, while Barnes improved to 24-0 against such foes, including 11-0 at Tennessee.
• As announced prior to tip-off, two Volunteers missed the season opener: freshman guard Bishop Boswell (concussion protocol) and fifth-year guard Darlinstone Dubar (personal matter).
• In addition to Lanier and Okpara, senior forward Igor Miličić Jr., also earned his first official action as a Volunteer.
• Tennessee’s first points of the 2024-25 season came from Miličić Jr. on a layup just 25 seconds into the contest.
• The Volunteers started 15-of-27 (55.6 percent) from the field before missing their last four field-goal attempts of the first half.
• The two sides combined to shoot 17-of-20 (85.0 percent) at the line in the opening 20 minutes, as Tennessee went 9-of-10 (90.0 percent) and Gardner-Webb posted an 8-of-10 (80.0 percent) clip.
• Mashack, who made multiple 3-pointers for the fifth time as a Volunteer, has previously recorded four steals on three occasions, most recently doing so on Feb. 28, 2023, versus Arkansas.
• Gainey’s seven made field goals set a new high in his Tennessee career, eclipsing his previous mark of six, which he recorded thrice last year, most recently on Feb. 14, 2014, at Arkansas.
• Additionally, Gainey matched his top steals mark as a Volunteer, as he recorded three twice last season, most recently on Feb. 7, 2024, versus LSU.
• Sophomore forward Cade Phillips, who made multiple field goals for the first time as a Volunteer, set career highs in minutes (20), points (seven) and rebounds (four), eclipsing his prior bests of 12 (Nov. 29, 2023, at North Carolina), four (Dec. 5, 2023, versus George Mason) and three (twice, most recently Feb. 17, 2024, against Vanderbilt), respectively.

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