BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Facing an early nine-point deficit in a top-10 showdown at a sold-out Reed Arena, the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team clawed back to knock off seventh-ranked Texas A&M, 77-69, Saturday afternoon.

Sixth-ranked Tennessee (22-5, 9-5 SEC) tied a program record with its seventh AP top-25 victory of the season, including its second top-10 decision of the month, behind a game- and season-high 30 points from Chaz Lanier, who notched 22 in the first half alone. The fifth-year guard hit a career-best eight 3-pointers, becoming the fourth Volunteer—fifth instance—ever to do so in a contest.

Texas A&M (20-7, 9-5 SEC) scored the first six points, en route to building a 14-5 edge at the 13:16 mark of the first half, at which time it was 7-of-11 from the field while the Volunteers were 1-of-7. Tennessee, aided by a 7-0 run in 1:52, cut the deficit to two, 17-15, with 9:42 left in the frame. It soon used an 8-0 surge in 1:01 to pull ahead for the first time, 23-22, on a transition 3-pointer by senior guard Zakai Zeigler with 6:16 to go in the session.

After the Aggies regained the lead—pushing it as high as four—multiple times, Tennessee senior forward Igor Miličić Jr., hit a 3-pointer with 2:22 remaining in the stanza to give his team a 34-32 advantage. Lanier added the only points the rest of the half, connecting on a baseline jumper with 22 ticks left to make it 36-32 at the break. Lanier scored 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the first 20 minutes, including notching a 6-of-7 long-range clip that featured makes on his first five attempts.

Texas A&M opened the second stanza on an 11-4 run to pull ahead, 43-40, with 14:26 to go. Tennessee held the Aggies scoreless for the next 3:20 and, during that span, logged six straight points—Zeigler scored four from the line and assisted on the other two—to go up, 46-43, with 11:22 on the clock.

The Aggies, shortly thereafter, went on their own 6-0 run to claim a 51-48 edge with 8:19 to play. Lanier responded with a 3-pointer to level the score just 23 seconds later and senior guard Jahmai Mashack added a tip-in on the next possession to put the visitors in front, 53-51, with 6:56 left.

After the Aggies evened the score, Lanier and senior guard Jordan Gainey sandwiched 3-pointers around a Texas A&M to basket to earn a 63-59 cushion with 3:33 on the timer. Senior guard Wade Taylor IV hit three free throws at the other end to slice the lead to one, but Tennessee countered with two free throws by Zeigler and another 3-pointer by Gainey to go ahead by a then-game-high six, 68-62, with 2:28 to go.

Texas A&M got the margin down to three multiple times, the last with 47.7 ticks remaining, but Zeigler nailed a 3-pointer out of a late-clock timeout to double the lead with 21 seconds to go. Nine seconds later, after a defensive stop, Lanier added two points from the line nine seconds to give him 30 and ice the result by putting the Volunteers up by a game-best eight points, the final margin.

Lanier finished 10-of-18 from the floor, 8-of-13 beyond the arc and 2-of-2 at the line, plus grabbed five rebounds. He amassed the most points by a Volunteer this season, the most made 3-pointers by a Tennessee player in the Rick Barnes era (2015-25) and became the second SEC player to hit eight-plus 3-pointers in a league game this year.

Zeigler had 16 points, including 13 in the final 12:37, to go along with a team-best seven assists and two steals. He finished 10-of-12 at the free-throw line, good for his second-most makes as a co-most attempts as a collegian. Gainey, who shot 2-of-5 from deep and 4-of-4 at the line, added 14 points, including 10 in the last 6:12, and a game-leading three steals.

Taylor paced the Aggies with 18 points and he equaled Zeigler with a 10-of-12 clip from the line, plus led all players with nine assists. However, Tennessee held him to a 4-of-15 ledger from the field, including a 0-of-9 mark beyond the arc.

Senior guard Zhuric Phelps had 15 points despite Tennessee limiting him to a 6-of-17 count from the field with a 1-of-7 long-range tally. Phelps grabbed 11 rebounds to lead all players, while senior forward Andersson Garcia totaled 14 points and six boards.

Tennessee, which reached five AP top-15 victories in a campaign for the third time ever, shot 48.1 percent (13-of-27) from 3-point range and 90.0 percent (18-of-20) at the free-throw line. It conceded just a 39.0 percent (23-of-59) field-goal mark to the Aggies, including a 16.7 percent (5-of-30) register from deep. Texas A&M had the exact same free-throw numbers as the Volunteers.

The victory served as the 828th in Barnes’ 38-year career, moving him into a tie with Arkansas’ John Calipari for the most at the Division I level by any active coach. The two are also tied for the No. 10 spot all-time in that category.

Tennessee is back in action Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET in Baton Rouge, La., where it faces LSU at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, live on SEC 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
• The Volunteers improved to 13-8 all-time against Texas A&M and now have a winning record, 5-4, on the road in the series.
• Tennessee has now been ranked in nine (7-2) of its last 10 matchups with Texas A&M after it was unranked in each of the first 11.
• Saturday marked the third time the Volunteers ranked a ranked Texas A&M side, including their first time facing a top-20 Aggies team.
• Prior to Saturday, Tennessee and Texas A&M met just once with both teams ranked, but neither were in the top 10.
• Barnes has now faced Texas A&M 44 times in his head coaching career, extending the Aggies’ mark as his most common foe.
• Barnes now possesses 33 victories over Texas A&M as a head coach, matching his total against Texas Tech for his most versus any opponent.
• The Volunteers have now played an AP top-15 opponent in seven of their last nine contests, posting a 4-3 record, a ledger that includes a 2-1 tally versus AP top-seven teams.
• Saturday marked the fourth AP top-eight matchup in SEC play this season for the Volunteers, two fewer than the program’s entire total (six) before 2024-25.
• Tennessee is now 35-26 (.574) in AP top-25 matchups in Barnes’ tenure, including 7-4 (.636) in 2024-25.
• The above record includes a 23-13 (.639) figure since Feb. 26, 2022, and a 14-6 (.700) ledger since Dec. 9, 2023.
• The Volunteers improved to 9-8 (.529) in AP top-10 showdowns across Barnes’ 10 campaigns as head coach.
• Tennessee moved to 41-41 (.500) against AP top-25 foes under Barnes, including 25-14 (.641) since Jan. 22, 2022.
• The Volunteers’ record versus AP top-10 teams in the Barnes era increased to 15-15 (.500), including 13-9 (.591) since March 2, 2019, and 10-6 (.625) since Dec. 22, 2021.
• Over its last 29 games against AP top-15 opponents—the stretch dates to Dec. 22, 2021—Tennessee is now 20-9 (.690).
• Tennessee moved to 6-7 when tipping off before noon local time in Barnes’ 10-year tenure, including 2-0 this season.
• As a forementioned, Barnes’ 828th Division I victory tied him with Arkansas’ John Calipari for the most of any active coach, as well as for the No. 10 spot on the all-time leaderboard.
• Tennessee’s seven AP top-25 wins tie 2023-24 and 2021-22 for the most in program history, as it has now hit that mark in three of the last four campaigns after never previously doing so.
• The Volunteers have five AP top-15 triumphs this year, matching 2022-23 for the second-most in school history behind just the six in 2021-22, as they have also reached that total in three of the last four seasons after never before doing so.
• This is the ninth time in program history Tennessee has recorded multiple AP top-eight victories in a single season, including the fourth under Barnes.
• Lanier connected on six consecutive field-goal attempts—including all five of his 3-point tries—in the first 15 minutes of the game.
• Tennessee had a player scored 22 points in back-to-back halves, as Zeigler preceded Lanier with 22 after the break Feb. 15 against Vanderbilt.
• The Volunteers shot 61.5 percent from 3-point range in the first half, posting an 8-of-13 ledger, but missed their first eight of the second frame until Lanier game-tying 3-pointer with 7:56 to go that jumpstarted a 5-of-6 finish from that time on.
• Garcia, in span of 97 seconds, made both his first-half 3-point attempts for Texas A&M, marking his third time with multiple makes—on any number of tries—in a full game in his five-year carer and first since Jan. 20, 2024, at LSU.
• Miličić picked up his third foul with 9:30 left in the game and then registered his fourth just nine seconds later, putting the Aggies in the bonus with 9:21 to go and Taylor hit two free throws to put them ahead, 49-48.
• Taylor’s nine assists marked the most by a Tennessee foe this year, far eclipsing the prior top figure of six, set Jan. 18 by Vanderbilt’s A.J. Hoggard.
• Facing the third-ranked 3-point percentage defense in the country entering the game, Taylor joined Arkansas’ Zvonimir Ivisic (Feb. 19 at Auburn) as the only SEC players to attempt nine 3-poitners in a contest without a make in 2024-25.
• Tennessee’s 13 made 3-pointers set a new season high, eclipsing the 12 it made Nov. 22, 2024, versus Baylor in Nassau, Bahamas.
• The Volunteers have held a halftime advantage in 19 of their 27 outings this season, including a margin of seven-plus points 13 times, double digits 11 times, 12-plus 10 times, 14-plus eight times, 20-plus four times and 23-plus thrice.
• Tennessee has conceded 35 or fewer first-half points in 24 of its 27 contests thus far, including 29 or fewer on 14 occasions and 22 or fewer seven times.
• Zeigler’s seven assists increased his career mark to 666, moving him past Alabama’s Terry Coner (664 from 1983-87) for fourth place in SEC history.
• The seven assists for Zeigler also upped his total in 2024-25 to 194, passing Johnny Darden (192 in 1977-78) for fifth on the program’s single-season leaderboard.
• The only other game in which Zeigler made 10-plus free throws was a Jan. 18, 2022, affair at Vanderbilt when he tallied an 11-of-12 clip.
• In addition to that contest at Vanderbilt, Zeigler has one additional prior outing with a dozen free-throw attempts, as he shot 8-of-12 versus Auburn on Feb. 28, 2024.
• Zeigler’s 10 makes and 12 attempts from the line both set new season highs by any Tennessee player in 2024-25, surpassing the previous respective bests of eight (recorded thrice) and 10 (Mashack against Austin Peay on Nov. 17, 2024).
• The eight 3-pointers by Lanier extended his season tally to 94, moving him from No. 11 all the way to sixth on the Tennessee single-season list.
• Only four other Volunteers—five occasions—have recorded eight-plus made 3-pointers in a single contests: Chris Lofton (nine at Georgia on Feb. 11, 2006); Jordan McRae (eight at Georgia on March 2, 2013); Chris Lofton again (eight versus North Carolina A&T on Nov. 27, 2007); and Allan Houston (eight versus Fordham on Dec. 29, 1989).
• The eight 3-pointers by Lanier tied for the second-most by an SEC player this season and marked just the sixth time a player in the league hit that mark in 2024-25.
• Oklahoma’s Brycen Goodine is the only other SEC competitor to make eight-plus 3-pointers in a league game this year, as he posted a 9-of-11 clip so Jan. 8 at home against Texas A&M.
• Lanier’s six first-half 3-pointers surpassed his prior high for a full game in SEC play, eclipsing his mark of five recorded on three occasions, most recently Feb. 1 against Florida.
• Lanier has now scored over 20 points in the first half twice this season, as he notched 25 before the intermission Nov. 22, 2024, against Baylor in Nassau, Bahamas.
• Saturday marked the 26th 20-point performance in Lanier’s career, including his 11th this season, as well as his 13th showing with 25-plus points, including his fifth in 2024-25.
• The 30 points for Lanier set a season high—his prior top tally was 29 against Arkansas in the Jan. 4 conference opener—and marked his fifth time reaching that figure in his career.
• Lanier, who tied a season high with 10 made field goals, recorded double-digit makes for the sixth time as a collegian, including the third in his lone campaign at Tennessee.
• The eight 3-pointers by Lanier set a new career best, surpassing the mark of seven he posted Nov. 22, 2024, against Baylor—all in the first half—in Nassau, Bahamas.
• Junior forward Felix Okpara, who paced the team with seven rebounds, logged one block in the victory, giving him 48 this year to tie Wayne Chism (2009-10) for the No. 15 spot on the program’s single-season leaderboard.