No. 12 Tennessee rolls past Gardner-Webb in basketball season opener

Tennessee started slowly, imposed his will for 15 minutes and slowed again late against Gardner-Webb on Monday.

The no. 12 Vols, playing a meaningful game for the first time since the end of their historic run in the Elite Eight in Detroit last March, played to mixed results in their season opener at Food City Center, finishing a dominant second place. The half run was enough to win beating the Runnin' Bulldogs 80-64.

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Highly touted transfer guard Chaz Lanier With 18 points on 7 of 12 shooting from the field and four 3-pointers as a guard, he led Tennessee 1-0 Jordan Gainey And Zakai Zeigler finished with 16 and 13 points respectively.

The Vols shot 50.9% from the field and 34.8% from three-point range.

Gardner-Webb (0-1) won the tie and beat Tennessee 32-29. Felix Okpara led the Vols in rebounding with nine.

Darryl Simmons IIwho gave Tennessee fits during an 18-4 run in the final five minutes, scored a game-high 22 points. Anthony Selden And Jamaine Mann Each scored 13 points.

Tennessee got off to a slow start on both ends of the floor.

After Chaz Lanier extended a 5-0 lead with a 3-pointer, Gardner Webb started matching the Vols on the board and quickly scored 5 points Darryl Simmons II allowed the Runnin' Bulldogs to cut Tennessee's lead to 9-7 at the first media timeout.

Both Jordan Gainey And Cade Phillips made the most of the first few minutes after coming on. Gainey hit a three-pointer and Phillips hit an and-1 a few possessions later to extend the Vols' lead to 15-11.

Gainey seemed to provide the spark for the offense. His second 3-pointer was part of a stretch in which Tennessee made four of five shots down the court and extended its lead to 18-13 with less than 12 minutes left in the half.

On defense, Tennessee suffocated Gardner-Webb during a scoreless stretch that lasted more than three minutes, and back-to-back 3-pointers from Lanier and a subsequent layup on the fast break allowed the Vols to take a 30-18 lead 7:30am.

The Runnin' Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run after a timeout to cut Tennessee's lead again, but JP Estrellain his first appearance since checking in with 5:39 left, ending a goal drought of more than two minutes for the Vols.

Tennessee began to pull away again, ending the half with a 14-8 run in the final four minutes, capped by a reverse layup under the basket Zakai Zeigler and a transition score from Gainey to lead 44-32 at the break.

With a double-digit surge, the Vols' size and depth began to wear down Gardner-Webb in the opening minutes of the second half.

Tennessee scored the first 7 points of the half, including 4 points from out Igor Milicic Jr. before Jahmai Mashack Five minutes later, he hit his first three-pointer from deep to give the Vols a commanding 56-37 lead.

The Runnin' Bulldogs began to show signs of life when Jamaine Mann scored as Tennessee appeared to be slowing down, but Lanier, fresh off the bench after a strong first-half performance, regained the momentum with a three-pointer. Estrella scored on the following possession to give the Vols a 63-41 lead with 12 minutes left.

Although Tennessee had built a sizable lead, extending it to as many as 27 points at one point, Gardner-Webb still had a run left, challenging the Vols in a nearly four-minute scoring drought.

The Runnin' Bulldogs used a 10-0 run to cut the Vols' lead to 13 with under three minutes left. Mashack, who had had a relatively quiet night offensively, drained a three-pointer from the corner to end that run.

The defense helped create another much-needed score, turning a Gainey steal into a Phillips dunk, suddenly increasing the Tennessee lead to 16 within a minute.

Chaz Lanier showed why he was one of the most sought-after players in the transfer portal this offseason.

Lanier, who averaged 19.7 points per game North Florida Last season he demonstrated his potential as Tennessee's offensive spark with 18 points. He highlighted several runs by the Vols to extend their 27-point lead and finished the game making 7 of 12 shots from the field and 4 of 6 from deep in 26 minutes on the floor.

Jordan Gainey In his 28 minutes without a substitute, he provided another offensive boost. He finished just behind Lanier with 16 points on an impressive 7-of-9 shooting performance and added two rebounds and three steals on defense.

Tennessee will turn its attention to its first road test this weekend Louisville.

The Vols face the Cardinals under their first-year head coach Pat Kelsey on Saturday at 12pm ET at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville in the ACC Network.

Louisville, which opened its season against Morehead State on Monday is coming off an 8-24 season and a 3-17 mark in ACC play.

KenPom projects the Vols to win 76-72.