Chaz Lanier Has Been Absolutely Lethal Lately

Image: University of Tennessee Athletics

By Cody McClure

Chaz Lanier has been absolutely lethal lately.

Hopefully this tremendous shooting continues into March.

It feels like this is the right time of the year to get hot.

Unless there’s still time to go cold. But isn’t that always a possibility? The “are we peaking too early” thing seems overrated.

I’ll take eight made 3-pointers in a win at Texas A&M which marked just the fifth time in program history a UT basketball player has made at least eight triples in a game.

Stats courtesy of @Vol_Stats.

Lanier went off in the first half against the Aggies and finished with 30 points. He was 10-of-18 from the field and 8-of-13 from deep.

Lanier is averaging 18 points per game, which is just what we need him to do. He’s been especially good in three of the past four SEC games, tallying at least 21 points.

It helps, too, when we’ve got a couple of other offensive options. Zakai Zeigler is typically reliable and Jordan Gainey had a nice game at A&M.

The hope is that we’re rounding into form a bit offensively, but to me, it all starts with Lanier busting threes.

Lanier became the first D1 player with 30 points, eight made threes, and five rebounds on the road against an AP Top 10 team since Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield did it in 2016.

Hield did it in triple overtime. Lanier’s the first to do that in regulation since UConn’s AJ Price in 2009.

Stats courtesy of @Vol_Stats.

Things are really looking up offensively for this team. Let’s hope we can keep it going into March.

As my old football coach used to say to me,

“It’s nut-cutting time.”