Chaz Lanier leads No. 6 Tennessee to 77-69 victory at No. 7 Texas

Updated Feb. 22, 2025 3:13 p.m. ET

Associated Press

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Chaz Lanier had a season-high 30 points, including 8 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.

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.

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.