Top Ranked Tennessee Beats Western Carolina by 48 Points

(utsports.com) KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team recorded a dominant defensive performance in an 84-36 victory Tuesday night against Western Carolina at Food City Center.

Playing a home game as the No. 1 team in the nation for the first time since Feb. 13, 2019, top-ranked Tennessee (11-0) led by 40-plus for the final 6:22 and got a game/team-high 19 points from fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier, while senior guard Zakai Zeigler finished an assist shy of a triple-double.

Western Carolina (3-7) scored the first six points en route to a 9-3 edge through three-and-a-half minutes, but the Volunteers quickly took a lead they never gave back. A 15-0 burst in just 3:44, featuring three straight 3-pointers in 57 seconds, put Tennessee ahead by nine, 18-9, with 12:42 on the first-half timer.  The surge came during a stretch in which the home team did not allow a point for 4:23.

The Volunteers pushed their margin higher and higher as the half continued. They held the Catamounts without a point for the final 7:56 of the half, as they missed 14 straight field-goal attempts and committed five turnovers. Meanwhile, Tennessee logged a 16-0 run in 6:23, extending their lead to 38-15 with 1:23 to go in the frame, with the score holding steady entering the intermission.

After allowing their opponents a 3-of-6 start from the floor, the Volunteers held Western Carolina to 2-of-31 shooting the rest of the session, as the visitors went into the locker room with a 5-of-37 (13.5 percent) clip, including a 5-of-28 (17.9 percent) mark from deep, as it went 0-of-9 inside the arc.

The Volunteers scored the first three points after the break to make it a 19-0 run, plus forced misses on the Catamounts’ first two field-goal attempts to up the tally to 16 in a row. They snapped the skid with 17:40 remaining after 10:16 without a point.

Tennessee scored eight straight points in just 85 seconds to go ahead by 32, 49-17, with 15:52 to play. The lead never dipped below 30 in the final 15:57, reached 40 with 6:22 left and extended to 45 with 5:04 to play. It reached a game-best 48, 82-34, with 1:49 remaining after a 7-0 spurt in 1:27 and stayed at 48 at the final horn.

For the Volunteers, it marked their seventh-largest margin of victory of the last 50 seasons (1975-2025), including their third-largest in the last 15 seasons (2010-25).

Lanier, who shot 3-of-7 from 3-point range, added four assists and four steals to his game-best point total. Both marks set or tied season highs and put him one shy of his career best.

Senior guard Jordan Gainey posted 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, adding a career-high-tying five steals and a co-career-best two blocks. Fifth-year guard Darlinstone Dubar notched a season-high 13 points on a 5-of-8 field-goal clip, while junior forward Felix Okpara had nine points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Jahami Mashack, who was plus-45 in his 30 minutes of action, posted a career-best five steals, giving Tennessee a trio of players with at least four for the first time since Nov. 27, 2007.

Zeigler turned in a dazzling all-around performance, logging 10 points, a career-high 10 rebounds and nine assists, the latter two marks both game bests. The Long Island, N.Y., native pulled down all 10 of his boards in the first half after previously eclipsing six in a full game just once, en route to his 10th-career double-double and second in the last three games.

Senior forward Bernard Pelote scored a team-high 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting for the Catamounts. No other player on the team eclipsed eight points in the setback.

Tennessee held Western Carolina to 21.9 percent (14-of-64) shooting, including a 7-of-47 (14.9 percent) ledger through 38-plus minutes. It marked the lowest field-goal percentage allowed by the Volunteers since Nov. 6, 2018, and the lowest total versus a Division I opponent in at least the last 20 seasons (2005-25).

The Catamounts tallied a 15.4 percent (6-of-39) ledger from long range and added just two points from the free-throw line, where they shot 50.0 percent (2-of-4).

The Volunteers, who committed only eight fouls, did not allow a single point off turnovers or on the fast break, amassing 32-0 and 22-0 margins, respectively. They also had a 44-14 margin in paint points and 37-14 tally off the bench, as their reserves outscored Western Carolina’s entire team.

Tennessee is back on the Food City Center hardwood Monday at 7 p.m. when it hosts Middle Tennessee State, live on SEC Network.