Tennessee Basketball Defeats Norfolk State

Tennessee will enter conference play undefeated after winning their 13th straight game this season.

Caleb Sisk | Dec 31, 2024

Dec 31, 2024; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes speaks with his team during the first half against the Norfolk State Spartans at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images / Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

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Tennessee Volunteers

Tennessee will enter conference play undefeated after winning their 13th straight game this season.

Tennessee basketball had their last non-conference game before they move to in-conference play. They took on Norfolk State and walked away with their 13th win of the season.

Tennessee defeated Norfolk State by a score of 67-52.

Chaz Lanier was the leading scorer for Tennessee. He finished the day with 24 points. He was averaging 19.3 before today’s game. He also had two steals on the day with two rebounds and two assists.

However, the MVP for Tennessee was Cade Phillips who had 10 points but also a career-high five blocks off the bench picking up his fifth one late in the game.

Zakai Zeigler didn’t have as dominant of a game as usual however he did finish with 10 points and six assists as the guard counterpart for Lanier.

Tennessee will return to the court against Arkansas on Saturday. Arkansas is ranked 23rd nationally and has a record of 11-2. They also have Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo on their roster which will spice this game up more than usual.

This matchup will take place in Knoxville, Tennessee before they play their first road matchup next week against Florida in Gainesville. They will only match up with Arkansas once this season as they are used to playing Coach Cal twice a season when he coached at Kentucky.