No. 6 Tennessee's defense stifles No. 14 Mississippi State

Field Level Media|published: Tue 21st January, 21:27 2025

NCAA Basketball: Mississippi State at Tennessee

Jan 21, 2025; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Chaz Lanier (2) shoots a three-point basket against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the first half at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Chaz Lanier scored 23 points and sank five 3-pointers as No. 6 Tennessee got back on track with a resounding 68-56 win over No. 14 Mississippi State on Tuesday in Knoxville, Tenn.

After falling twice in their previous four games, the Volunteers (17-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) started fast at home with deep shots and stifling defense, holding the visitors to a season-low 16 points in the first half and breaking a two-game head-to-head losing streak against Mississippi State.

Zakai Zeigler had nine points, seven assists and five steals, while Jahmai Mashack and Jordan Gainey netted 10 apiece. Felix Okpara totaled nine points and 12 rebounds.

Josh Hubbard had 14 points, Riley Kugel 12 and RJ Melendez 10 for the Bulldogs (15-4, 3-3), who never led and were never closer than seven points in the second half.

Lanier, Tennessee's sharpshooter and leading scorer, helped create an 8-0 lead right away by draining two 3-pointers inside the first three minutes. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs started 1 of 13 as the Volunteers went out on in front 15-4.

Mississippi State's shooting woes continued in the first 12 minutes as it canned just two shots from the field while the home side built a 19-6 lead.

The Bulldogs warmed up and cut their deficit to 25-16 on KeShawn Murphy's layup, but that basket turned out to be their final points of the half.

The Volunteers held a 34-16 lead at the break primarily due to great defense, as they limited the Bulldogs to 22.2 percent shooting (6 of 27).

Lanier hit 4 of his 7 tries from long range before the break and had 14 points -- nearly equaling the Bulldogs' entire output -- as Tennessee made 6 of 15 (40 percent) from beyond the arc.

In the second half, Mississippi State found its stride early and sliced the deficit to 38-31 less than five minutes in on Hubbard's layup, but that seemed to awaken the Volunteers.

Tennessee went off on a 14-2 run over the next six minutes and breezed to their sixth win in the past eight meetings with the Bulldogs.

--Field Level Media

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