Observations from Tennessee’s Win Against Baylor
Credit: University of Tennessee Athletics
By Tucker Harlin
Baha Mar let the Vols out with a Feast Week championship.
#11 Tennessee (6-0) trounced #13 Baylor (4-2) 77-62 to conclude a dominant march through a competitive field in Nassau Friday. Chaz Lanier was the tournament MVP, averaging 25.5 points.
These are my observations from the fixer upper the Vols put on the Bears.
FIRST HALF
The Vols blitzed the Bears off the floor in the opening half.
Chaz Lanier hit one three, then another that forced Scott Drew to call a timeout 1:24 into the game. A little over a minute came off the clock hit the front end of a trio of triples, one that caused Drew to use a second timeout around the 16-minute mark.
The grad transfer went 7/8 from three, scoring 25 in the half.
dude can shooooot
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) November 23, 2024
Chaz Lanier goes 7-8 from three in the first half pic.twitter.com/qrfOixKKPs
The next best contributors for Tennessee’s offense were Jordan Gainey and Igor Milicic. Gainey hit consecutive threes while Milicic did the dirty work inside.
The Vols were stifling on defense.
He didn’t score a bucket the entire half, but Zakai Zeigler quickly stole the ball three times and doled it out for assists eight time.
The Bears couldn’t find the free throw line. Longer players like Cade Phillips, Darlinstone Dubar, and Jahmai Mashack made life miserable for Norchad Omier and anyone else who dared to score in the paint.
SECOND HALF
Baylor wasn’t going to let itself get run out of the conference room again.
The Bears shut down Chaz Lanier in the second half, making sure a defender was heavily draped on him at all times. While that strategy was effective at slowing the Vols down, they had different ideas for offensive ploys.
The goal now was to force the ball inside for easy layups. If those didn’t fall, the Vols used the free throw line to convert possessions to points.
Igor Milicic, Jordan Gainey, Zakai Zeigler, and Cade Phillips all produced with this strategy. Phillips in particular showed up on offense, whether it was at the free throw line, dunking, or throwing his fellow big man a lob.
The defensive intensity you saw Tennessee play with in the first half wasn’t quite there in the last frame. Norchad Omier got most of what he wanted around the rim, and V.J. Edgecombe made the shots you’d expect a coveted NBA prospect to hit.
The primary defensive highlight I recall is Jahmai Mashack volleyball spiking a block out of bounds on an attempted layup from Robert Wright III.
It also felt like the officials called a tighter game in the second half as opposed to the first. Tennessee did what it wanted in the first half on defense without the risk of a whistle while they came early and often in the second half.
OVERALL
This tournament was as tough as the non-conference schedule was going to get for Tennessee this year.
Scott Drew runs one of the most consistent programs in college basketball year in and year out. I thought the Vols were in for a 40-minute fight in the first place game.
I thought wrong. Tennessee passed possibly its biggest test out of conference with flying colors in paradise, an encouraging thought for a group with so many new faces.
The Vols will head back to the states for a home contest against UT Martin Wednesday. The game tips off at 4 p.m. ET and airs on SEC Network Plus.
