KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – With an 82-64 win Monday night against Middle Tennessee State, the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team extended its season-opening win streak to a dozen for the third time in program history.

For the first time in the 2024-25 season, top-ranked Tennessee (12-0) faced a halftime deficit, controlled much of the second stanza and secured victory in front of 20,706 fans at Food City Center. Fifth year guard Chaz Lanier was a senior guard with a 23-point lead over the winners Zakai Zeigler posted his second straight double-double with 17 points and 15 assists, the highest of his career, tied for the fifth-most in program history.

Midway through the first half, the Volunteers scored eight straight points in just 94 seconds to take a 25-14 lead with 9:31 on the clock. However, Middle Tennessee State (9-4) soon jumped out to a 13-2 lead, including seven unanswered points in 55 seconds by redshirt senior guard Camryn Weston, to take its first lead of the game, 32-20, with 3:06 to play leave the break.

After Tennessee tied it just 18 seconds later, the Blue Raiders scored eight of the final 10 points in the frame, capping off a 21-6 run over the final 6:33 of the frame, giving themselves a game-high six points secured a lead, 40-34, at the break. Weston, who capped the score with a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left, scored 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting in the session.

Tennessee scored nine of its first 12 points out of the locker room, tying the score at 43 with 16:01 to play. Middle Tennessee State went down by three three times before the Volunteers took a 52-51 lead with 12:21 left and never relinquished the lead. It increased the lead to six, 57-51, with 11:09 left after making it 9-0 at the 1:44 mark.

The Blue Raiders cut the deficit to one, 59-58, with 9:23 left, but Tennessee then went 5:58 into the game without allowing a field goal – including 3:35 without a point – and posted a 14-2 Run during 5:15 of that span to secure a then-game-best 13-point lead, 73-60, with 3:39 remaining.

The Volunteers ultimately won by their largest lead of the night, 18, after scoring the final seven points in the final 1:37.

Lanier, who posted his fifth 22-plus point performance in the last eight games, shot 5 of 10 from 3-point range and led the team in scoring for the ninth time, including the eighth straight. Zeigler, who recorded his 11th career double-double, scored or assisted on 19 of the team’s 27 made field goals and shot 8 of 9 from the line to set season highs in makes and attempts. His 15 assists were the highest total by a Volunteer since February 28, 1987 and the highest number by an SEC participant in non-conference play since November 15, 2019.

Junior striker Felix Okpara scored 12 points, including 10 in the first half where he went 4 of 4, all on dunks. Senior security guard Jordan Gainey added 10 points, six rebounds and a game-best two blocks, while senior forward Igor Miličić Jr. led all players with 12 rebounds.

Weston led all scorers with 24 points for the Blue Raiders and added a game-high four steals. He shot 9 of 18 from the field, the most by a Tennessee opponent this season, although he missed his final six attempts and scored just one point in the final 14 minutes. Junior guard Kamari Lands added 13 points on a 5-of-10 field goal clip for Middle Tennessee State.

Tennessee limited Middle Tennessee State to 8 of 27 (29.6 percent) shooting in the second half, including 3 of 14 (21.4 percent) from long range. The Volunteers shot 18 of 23 (78.3 percent) from the stripe in the win, while the Blue Raiders managed just 7 of 14 (50.0 percent).

After a week-long break from game action, Tennessee completes its non-conference schedule against Norfolk State on December 31 at 3 p.m., live on SEC Network+ from Food City Center.

To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitterand /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.

TENNESSEE VOLUNTARY AFTERMATH NOTES
• Monday marked the 14th game in program history in which Tennessee finished No. 1 in the AP Poll and improved to 12-2, including 11-1 as a head coach Rick Barnes‘Term.
• The Volunteers also increased their record to 26-4 all-time and ranked in the top three in the AP poll, including 22-2 under Barnes.
• Tennessee remained one of the only four undefeated teams in the country and the only school undefeated in both men’s and women’s basketball.
• Barnes is now 34-6 (.850) against in-state opponents during his tenure at Tennessee, including 17-1 (.944) in the last 18 of those contests.
• Barnes improved to 14-0 in his career against current Conference USA participants, his third-most wins without a loss against any league.
• Middle Tennessee State becomes the 204th different current Division I program that Barnes has defeated in his 38-year head coaching career.
• Tennessee improved to 10-2 all-time against Middle Tennessee State with wins by an average of 21.7 points per game, including eight decisions by double figures.
• The Volunteers achieved a 12-0 record, starting a season for the third time in program history, following 1922-23 (14-0) and 1915-16 (finished 12-0).
• Tennessee now has its seventh winning streak in program history of at least 12 games, including its fifth in a single season and its first since 2018-19, when it posted a program-best 19 straight wins.
• The other four winning streaks in a season of at least a dozen games for Tennessee are as follows: 19 in the 2018-19 season (Nov. 28-Feb. 13), 14 in the 1922-23 season (Jan. 8-Feb. February). , 12 in 1915-16 (Jan 8 to Feb 26) and 12 in 1976-77 (Dec 11 to Jan 24).
• As announced before the game began, the Volunteers played without a freshman guard Bishop Boswell (Right shoulder injury), leaving them with only eight scholarship players available.
• The Volunteers improved to 89-33 all-time while playing in front of over 20,000 fans at Food City Center, including 30-9 under Barnes, with 24 of the latter 39 coming in the last four years (2021-25).
• On Monday, the Volunteers trailed at halftime and/or conceded more than 36 points before halftime for the first time in the 2024-25 season.
• Weston’s 17 first-half points were the most in a frame by a Tennessee opponent this season, matching Baylor’s Norchad Omier’s mark after halftime on Nov. 22 in Nassau, Bahamas.
• Weston’s seven first-half field goals set a new high in a meeting by a Volunteer opponent this year, surpassing the mark of six made by Omier and teammate VJ Edgecombe in the second half against Baylor.
• Weston shot 9 of 12 in the first 26 minutes of the contest, already setting a new record for most field goals in a complete game by a single player against Tennessee in the 2024-25 season.
• The Volunteers have led 412:43 out of a possible 480 minutes so far in the 2024/25 season while only trailing 43:39.
• Tennessee has had a lead of more than 18 points in 11 of its 12 contests this season, including 26 in all but three, and has still not trailed by more than eight.
• Eleven of Tennessee’s 12 wins so far have come by more than 13 points, including seven by at least 22, four by at least 35 and two by more than 40 points.
• Zeigler, who now recorded back-to-back double-doubles for the first time as a Volunteer, raised his career double-double mark to 11.
• Ten of Zeigler’s 11 double-doubles have come with points and assists, giving him twice as many in that category as any player in program history.
• Monday marked the 11th double-digit assist effort of Zeigler’s career, including his third of the 2024-25 season.
• Zeigler’s career-best assist mark came on Feb. 24, 2024, when he scored 14 against Texas A&M.
• The youngest SEC player to have more than 15 assists in a game was Kentucky’s TyTy Washington Jr., who had 17 assists against Georgia on Jan. 8, 2022, while Auburn’s J’ was the last to do so in a game outside the conference. By McCormick on November 15, 2019 vs. Cal State Northridge.
• Over the past three seasons (2022-25), there have only been four times an SEC player recorded more than 13 assists in a game, with Zeigler notching three of those performances, including on Feb. 24, 2024 against Texas A&M ( 14) and February 2, 2024 in Kentucky (13).
• Zeigler’s 15 assists tied Fred Jenkins’ total on Feb. 28, 1987 against Georgia, the fifth-most in Tennessee history, and was also the most recent performance of more than 15 assists by a Volunteer.
• Zeigler is one of only two players in program history to record more than 14 assists on multiple occasions. He joins Rodney Woods, who accomplished this on February 1, 1975 at Georgia (16) and on February 3, 1973 against Auburn (14).
• Miličić recorded double-digit rebounds for the 19th time in his career, including his fifth in 12 appearances as a Volunteer.
• Lanier scored at least four times and made 3-pointers for the 22nd time as a collegiate player, including his seventh in just 12 games at Tennessee.
• In half of those 22 contests, Lanier has now made at least five 3-pointers, his third such performance as a Volunteer.
• Lanier now has a total of 20 20-point finishes in his career, including five so far in his only year as a Volunteer.
• In the last eight games, Lanier scored more than 22 points five times and led Tennessee in scoring seven times.
• Gainey has now recorded multiple blocks in three of the last four games, including the last two, after doing so five times in his first 108 appearances.