Just what Rick Barnes wanted to see out of his team. On Thursday night, the Tennessee Vols kicked off their 2025 March Madness campaign. The No. 2 seed in the Midwest region, UT took on No. 15 Wofford and while things got closer than we thought they would in the second half, a 77-62 win was posted for the SEC side.
It's officially on to the second round for the Vols playmakers, as a date with either Utah State or UCLA is on the way. Those two teams will also face off on Thursday night, but after this article has been published.
Nevertheless, Tennessee will be focused on punching its ticket to the Sweet Sixtween. In this piece, we have our main takeaways from the win over Wofford, of course including the performance from the Player of the Game:
3. Chaz Lanier was once again superb for Tennessee in the win
In the loss to Florida on Sunday in the SEC Tournament Championship Game, Chaz Lanier had a day to forget. He got off to a bit of a hot start, but in the end, he finished with only 11 points. To make matters worse for him, he fouled out too.
He needed a bounce-back game to give him confidence for March Madness and that's exactly what happened. Lanier was brilliant in the first half, scoring 14 points. At the start of the second half, he picked up right where he left off and he didn't stop lighting up the court. On the night, the senior poured in 29 points. More of the same from you please, Chaz.
2. Zakai Zeigler made Tennessee history for the Vols in this one
The day Zakai Zeigler has to say goodbye to Knoxville and the Tennessee basketball program - well, it's going to be a depressing one. Zeigler has been unreal for the Vols throughout his career and he added to his legacy vs. the Terriers.
PGZ all alone at the top
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) March 20, 2025
no player in Tennessee Basketball history has dished out more assists than Zakai Zeigler pic.twitter.com/qrvvNxcWjk
In the first half, Zeigler, who finished with 12 assists on the night, became Tennessee's all-time assists leader. He's going to go down in the history books as one of the best point guards the program has ever seen. More is on the way for ZZ, but for now, he can go ahead and enjoy all the praise he's getting.
1. Wofford made things interesting in the second half
In the NCAA Tournament, anything can happen. However, the Vols had multiple opportunities to make this a blowout much earlier, but they allowed Wofford to keep things a bit closer than most people would have hoped for. Multiple times, Wofford cut its deficit to under double digits, which no one liked.
Thankfully, Lanier was ready to keep making big buckets, while Zeigler and others did the same. Lanier was on absolute fire, but moving forward, Barnes and Co. can't just rely on him to play out of this world. On defense, this team still needs to be a bit more consistent and not allow too many second-chance opportunities. It will need to be cleaned up vs. either Utah State or UCLA.