(4) Tennessee began its road through the SEC Tournament with a big win in the quarterfinals over (13) Texas.
Thanks to a big early scoring clinic from Chaz Lanier and a strong team effort in the second half, the Vols took down the Longhorns 83-72 to advance to the semifinals round on Saturday. Tennessee will match up with (1) Auburn in the early game from Bridestone Arena at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Lanier, returning to his hometown of Nashville for the tournament, sparked the crowd with 17 points in the first nine minutes of the game. While Lanier finished with just six points the rest of the game, his start was crucial in getting Tennessee early momentum and the lead out of the gates.
The Vols entered the halftime break with a three-point lead and outscored the Longhorns by eight in the second half for the 11-point win. Tennessee put together a more balanced, better defensive half in the final 20 minutes, led by Zakai Zeigler’s 19 second-half points.
After the game, the trio of Rick Barnes, Zakai Zeigler, and Chaz Lanier met with the media to discuss their reactions to the win. Tennessee will now face (1) Auburn on Saturday afternoon with a spot in Sunday’s SEC Tournament Championship on the line.
More from RTI: Three Quick Takeaways As Tennessee Knocks Off Texas To Advance To SEC Tournament Semifinals
Check out Tennessee’s full SEC Tournament quarterfinals postgame interview below:
Tennessee HC Rick Barnes, G Zakai Zeigler, G Chaz Lanier
Texas HC Rodney Terry, G Jordan Pope, F Kadin Shedrick
