Tennessee Basketball takes care of business in MSG.

The #1 ranked Tennessee Volunteers emerged victorious in Madison Square Garden last night, beating the Miami Hurricanes 75-62. While Miami is by no means a good team right now it is still the best performance the Vols have ever had fresh off of earning a #1 ranking. In 2008 The Vols lost their first game as the #1 team to Vanderbilt in Memorial Gymnasium and then in 2019 in their first game being #1 they went to the same gym and had to fend off the Commodores in overtime. However, the Hurricanes were not as feisty on Tuesday night as those Vanderbilt teams.

After a back-and-forth first 12 minutes, Miami was clinging to a 1-point lead, but then Tennessee flipped the switch defensively and ended the 1st half on a 14-0 run. The 2nd half saw the Vols build up an 18-point lead with 10 minutes to play. The Hurricanes didn’t go away easy though as they cut the lead down to 7 with 6 minutes to play. It makes sense that Tennessee had some trouble down the stretch last night putting the game away as they only played 7 players due to injuries. Luckily Tennessee had built a big enough lead that the few minutes where the Vols lost focus didn’t end up resulting in a loss.

Chaz Lanier once again led the Vols in scoring with 22 points including 4-7 from beyond the arc. Zakai Zeigler scored 13 points and added 9 assists in his return to his home state. Jahmai Mashack turned in a terrific defensive performance with 3 steals and a block. Igor Milicic nearly had a double-double with 16 points and a team-high 9 rebounds. Cade Phillips and Jordan Gainey had solid performances off the bench as well. The only disappointing performance came from Felix Okpara as he went 0-3 from the floor and only came down with 5 rebounds.

Being the #1 ranked team means that each team the Vols play will bring their best effort. The wind blows hardest at the top after all, but for now, the Vols are still at the top of the mountain in College Basketball.