Tennessee basketball moved up one-spot to No. 5 in this week’s AP Poll following its best win of the season at Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon.
The Vols played just one game last week after having a midweek open date before heading to College Station for a top 10 showdown. Tennessee capitalized on the open date, making 48% of its three-point attempts at Texas A&M to outlast the Aggies 77-69 in a back-and-forth affair.
Chaz Lanier was dominant for Tennessee, scoring 30 points on eight made three-pointers. Six of those triples were in the first half and kept Tennessee in the game with others struggling. But in the second half, Zakai Zeigler got into a groove, scoring 13 of his 16 points and dishing out five of his seven assists while Jordan Gainey hit a pair of clutch three-pointers late.
Tennessee is one of eight SEC teams in this week’s rankings coming in behind No. 1 Auburn and No. 3 Florida but ahead of No. 6 Alabama, No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 14 Missouri, No. 17 Kentucky and No. 24 Mississippi State. The Vols jumped Alabama after the Crimson Tide lost at Missouri on Wednesday night.
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Alabama travels to Knoxville this Saturday for a game with major NCAA Tournament seeding ramifications. Both the Vols and Crimson Tide are competing for one of the final two one seeds and the matchup on March 1 could prove crucial.
But before Tennessee hosts the Crimson Tide, they head to Baton Rouge on Tuesday night to face LSU. The Tigers are one of the SEC’s worst teams but have played better as of late, winning two of their last three games and leading Florida at halftime in a loss this Saturday.
For Tennessee’s matchup against Alabama to have maximized meaning, the Vols first must take care of business against LSU on Tuesday night. Tipoff between Tennessee and LSU is at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center is at 9 p.m. ET. The SEC Network is broadcasting the game.
