The University of Tennessee men's basketball team capped a perfect November with a 78-35 decision Wednesday evening against UT Martin.

No. 7/6 Tennessee (7-0) never trailed and led for over 38 minutes, including by 20-plus for the final 11:35 and by 30-plus for last 5:56, in the intrastate matchup at Food City Center. Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier tallied a game-high 18 points for the victors.

The Volunteers quickly took control of the game with an early 8-0 run in 108 seconds to go ahead, 11-3, after just 4:01 of action. They extended their lead to 14 points, 28-14, exactly 10 minutes later, doubling up UT Martin (2-5) at that point. The home team did not concede a point for a span of 4:47.

Tennessee pushed its margin to 15 with 1:20 to go in the frame and it remained at that number, 35-20, at the buzzer. It allowed the Skyhawks to shoot only 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from the floor in the first 20 minutes, including 25.0 percent (4-of-16) beyond the arc.

The Volunteers scored the first nine points after the intermission to build a 44-20 lead with 16:16 remaining, making it a 14-0 extended run back to the 1:49 mark of the opening frame. They did not give up a second-half point until the clock showed 15:36, good for a stretch of 6:30 in which it held UT Martin scoreless going into and coming out of the break.

Tennessee held the Skyhawks without a make from the floor for 9:04 including without a point for two spans of at least 3:28 during that stretch, as it extended the cushion all the way to 36 points during that time. The Volunteers led, 67-31, with 4:29 to play after an extended 21-3 burst.

Tenth-year head coach Rick Barnes' team went on to score the final 11 points, capping the contest with their largest lead of not only of the day, but also the season. The last basket, to make it a 43-point final, came from redshirt junior guard Grant Hurst, who played at UT Martin in 2021-22, with 34 seconds left.

Along with Lanier, who hit at least four 3-pointers for the fourth time this season, two other Volunteers reached double figures in the scoring column. Senior guard Zakai Zeigler registered 11 points to go along with a game-high nine assists and a team-best two steals. Junior forward Felix Okpara posted 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting and a game-leading 11 rebounds, including five on the offensive end, for his first double-double in a Tennessee uniform, plus swatted a game-best four shots. The boards and blocks totals for Okpara both set season highs.

Additionally, senior forward Igor Miličić Jr. put up nine points to go along with a game- and season-best 13 rebounds, while senior guard Jahmai Mashack once again stuffed the stat sheet, amassing seven points, six rebounds, a season-high four assists and one steal.

Just one Skyhawk scored greater than seven points, as junior guard Josué Grullon notched 15 on 6-of-16 shooting. The rest of the roster totaled 22 points on a 6-of-37 ledger.

Tennessee doubled up UT Martin in both offensive and defensive rebounding, compiling a 20-10 margin in the former category—its most offensive rebounds since Dec. 11, 2022—and a 29-14 figure in the latter, good for an overall mark of 49-24. The Volunteers also had 22 assists and 11 turnovers, while conceding just eight assists and forcing 18 giveaways.

Barnes' team, which had nine blocks and conceded none, held the Skyhawks to a 22.6 percent (12-of-53) field-goal mark, including a mere 14.8 percent (4-of-27) total in the second half. Only twice in the last 20 seasons (2005-25) has Tennessee allowed a lower single-game field-goal percentage than it did against the Skyhawks, while just once has it given up fewer than 12 makes.

UT Martin's 35 points marked the fewest Tennessee has allowed in nearly 51 years, dating to Dec. 15, 1973, when it gave up just six to Temple. This is the fifth time in the shot-clock era (since 1985-86) the Volunteers have allowed under 40 points in a game, with this the third such occurrence in the last five seasons.

The 35 points marked the fewest allowed by an SEC team since Dec. 30, 2019, and set an arena low at Food City Center, which opened in 1987-88.

Meanwhile, at the other end, the Volunteers shot 47.6 percent (30-of-63) from the field, including 76.9 percent (20-of-26) inside the arc. They finished with a 36-10 edge in paint points and a 24-7 advantage in points off turnovers.

Up next for Tennessee is an SEC/ACC Challenge matchup with Syracuse, slated for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., live on ESPN from Food City Center.