Tennessee basketball enjoyed its start to the homestand on Tuesday night.
Welcoming the Western Carolina Catamounts to the Food City Center, the Vols ran away with an 84-36 win to stay unbeaten.
No. 1 Tennessee moved to 11-0 on the year with a 10-point, 10-rebound and 9-assist effort from Zakai Zeigler to glide past the Catamounts (3-7). Chaz Lanier led the Vols in scoring again with 19 points, while Darlinstone Dubar added a season-high 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting.
Here’s how it happened.
Catamounts jump to early lead, Lanier silences
Western Carolina began the game firing from beyond the arc. The explosive shooting out of the gate gave the Catamounts an early 9-3 advantage.
From that point on, Tennessee began a 15-0 run where Lanier dropped in back-to-back deep 3-pointers to give the Vols the lead after trailing for four minutes.
By the under-12 timeout, Western Carolina had attempted 17 shots — 14 of which came from 3-point territory.
The Catamounts began the game 3-for-6 from the field before shooting an abysmal 2-for-28 over the next 14 minutes of the game. Buried within the poor shooting stretch was a 7:56-minute scoring drought to conclude the half. Western Carolina missed 14 consecutive shots, allowing Tennessee to compile a 35-6 run after taking the lead early in the game.
Lanier paced the Vols’ offense at the break with 10 points. Zeigler aided with an incredible 10 rebounds and six assists in the first half.
Zeigler all-around effort
Despite making a minimal impact on the scoring end, it was Zeigler putting together a masterful performance with the rest of his game.
The senior point guard shot 0-for-5 from the floor across 19 minutes played in the first half. His impact came with 10 rebounds — standing at 5-foot-9 — while adding six assists. He accumulated two turnovers.
Zeigler’s only two points of the first half came from the free throw line, converting on both shots he attempted. On the defensive end, he added a steal. His plus-minus for the first half stood at a team-high 21.
In the second half, Zeigler still struggled to find his scoring game. He made his first shot at the 7:23 mark of the second half.
He shot 2-for-13 to finish the game with 10 points. Zeigler finished with 10 rebounds and nine assists with two turnovers.
Suffocating defense leads the way
Once Western Carolina held a six-point lead early in the game, everything flipped upside down for the Catamounts.
Tennessee’s defense held Western Carolina to a horrible day offensively. The Catamounts finished the game shooting 22% from the field and 15% from 3-point range.
Scoring droughts led to the downfall of the opposing team. A 7:56-minute scoring drought to end the first half gave Tennessee a comfortable 38-15 lead through 20 minutes played. In the first half, Western Carolina shot 13.5% from the field on 37 shots. It did not make a single basket inside the arc in the entire first half. The Catamounts’ first 2-point make came with 17:40 remaining in the second half on a jumper by Bernard Pelote.
At various points, the Catamounts had consecutive misses of 16-straight, 8-straight, 7-straight and 5-straight.
Cor Stansberry and Pelote each added six points a piece in the opening half to lead the way for Western Carolina.
Things did not much improve in the second half. The Catamounts shot 33% percent in the second half, dropping the game by a wide margin.
For the game, Tennessee forced 23 turnovers and snagged 14 offensive rebounds. The Vols accumulated 17 steals and six blocks.
Tennessee remains at home for its next matchup. The Vols will welcome an in-state opponent to Food City Center as Middle Tennessee State will play on Monday, Dec. 23.
