NASHVILLE — Chaz Lanier’s dream homecoming came up one free throw short. The Nashville native missed the second of what would have been two game-tying free throws with 2.8 seconds left and No. 6 Tennessee’s frantic rally from down 16 points in the second half fell one point short in a 76-75 loss at Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon.
Lanier, who finished with a team-high 17 points, had an initial chance to tie the game with five seconds left, but his drive to the rim was blocked by Vanderbilt’s Chris Manon. He was fouled, despite the Vols being down just two points, after Tyler Tanner missed a foul shot on the other end for Vandy.
Tennessee (16-2, 3-2 SEC) got 16 points, 10 assists, three rebounds from Zakai Zeigler, who also had three turnovers and sat for seven minutes in the first half after picking up his second foul. Lanier finished with 5-for-11 from the field and 4-for-6 from the 3-point line, but struggled with a team-high five turnovers.
Felix Okpara had 16 points on 7-for-7 shooting but was limited defensively after picking up two fouls in the first half. Igor Mlicic finished with 16 points and five rebounds.
Vanderbilt (15-3, 3-2) got 18 points from Justin Edwards, 13 from Tyler Nickel and 11 from Jaylen Carey. The Commodores shot 46.4% from the floor in the second half, including a 5-for-6 start from the 3-point line.
Vanderbilt’s stretched a six-point halftime lead to 10 after a 9-0 run that took just 64 seconds early in the second half.
Milicic scored five straight points out of halftime to get the Vols back within one, but Vandy answered with back-to-back-to-back threes, forcing a Tennessee timeout with 17:11 left and the Vols trailing 50-40.
Vandy built the lead to 16 with 10:47 left, with Tanner scoring on a transition layup after stripping Zeigler in the backcourt.
The closing sequence to the first half told the story. Tennessee had rallied from down seven points to get back within two with 26 seconds left before halftime. Then Jahmai Mashack fouled Tyler Nickel on a made 3-point field goal with 3.5 seconds left.
Nickel made the free throw for the four-point play and Vandy went to the locker room with a 41-35 lead and all the momentum.
It was a 26-21 Tennessee lead with 7:10 left in the half when Zakai Zeigler picked up his second foul on another whistle on a 3-point shooter.
Zeigler went to the bench and the Vols went sideways. They didn’t make another shot from the field until the 1:22 mark, when Chaz Lanier connected on a three. Vandy went on an 11-0 run to build a 35-28 lead before Lanier scored five straight.
The Commodores hammered Tennessee with 18 points in the paint while the Vols were hamstrung with forwards Felix Okpara and Cade Phillips both on the bench with two fouls. Vandy out rebounded Tennessee 17-12 in the first half, including nine offensive rebounds that lead to 10 second-chance points.
Tennessee started 5-for-6 from the 3-point line, building what was as much as an eight-point lead in the opening 10 minutes, then missed the next six 3-point attempts.
Tennessee is back home to host No. 15 Mississippi State on Tuesday in a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start (TV: ESPN2) at Food City Center. The Bulldogs lost back-to-back games last week, at home against Kentucky and then at Auburn.
The Vols go back on the road for a Saturday night showdown at No. 1 Auburn, with ESPN’s College GameDay broadcasting live from Auburn Saturday morning.
Auburn kept rolling Saturday afternoon with a 70-68 win at No. 23 Georgia, improving to 2-0 without star center Johni Broome (ankle).
