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.
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.
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