Chaz Lanier became the third Tennessee men’s basketball player to make 100 three-pointers in a season on Wednesday. Lanier’s first triple against Ole Miss, a wide open look from the left wing, helped the sharpshooter reach triple digits on the season.
Lanier joins Chris Lofton and Santiago Vescovi as the only Tennessee players to make 100 three-pointers in a single season. Lofton did it three times in his career, making 118 triples in 2008, 114 in 2007 and 106 in 2006. Vescovi became the first Vol since Lofton to reach triple digits in the same season when he hit 102 three-pointers in 2022.
It took Lanier, a North Florida transfer, just one year to reach the mark and he could chase down Lofton’s single-season record of 118 made three-pointers. The Vols have the rest of the Ole Miss game, a regular season game and at least two postseason games remaining where Lanier can chase down the single-season record.
Lanier’s ability to break the record likely comes down to how many extra games Tennessee plays in the postseason. If the Vols win a game in the SEC Tournament and make it to the Sweet 16 again then the senior shooting guard will almost certainly break the record.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Lanier’s hot-shooting performances this season is the efficiency in which he’s achieved it. Lanier entered Saturday afternoon’s showdown with Ole Miss having made 40.7% of his three-point attempts on the season.
The rate is just outside of the top 10 in program history but few players posted those rates on the same number of attempts as Lanier. Lofton twice posted a higher shooting percentage than Lanier, making 46.5% of his attempts in 2005 and 43.7% of his attempts in 2006.
Stay tuned to RockyTopInsider.com all night for complete coverage of Tennessee basketball’s matchup against Ole Miss and for quotes from Rick Barnes and Tennessee players about Lanier’s achievement.
