Tennessee's 74-56 dismantling of Georgia on Wednesday night inside the Food City Center certainly qualifies as a complete team victory.
The No. 6 Volunteers had four players amass double-digit scoring totals, made all 10 of their free throws and compiled more assists, rebounds and steals than the No. 23 Bulldogs while committing fewer turnovers.
Yet it was a particularly impressive showing by Tennessee's old guard, the venerable senior duo of Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler.
"Those guys are so disruptive," Georgia coach Mike White said on a Zoom call following the most lopsided loss of a 14-3 season that includes a 2-2 mark in Southeastern Conference play. "They've got experience, but they also have winning experience with Mashack and Zeigler. Those two guys in the backcourt — I don't know that there is another tandem defensively that's better in college basketball.
"They did what they do."
With one minute remaining in the first half, the Bulldogs led the Vols 26-21, successfully draining some of the energy from the crowd of 19,239. Less than eight minutes into the second half, however, Tennessee (16-1, 3-1) was in command 51-30 after a staggering 30-4 run that will be difficult for anybody to duplicate in SEC slugfests.
Asa Newell's 3-pointer with 14 minutes remaining pulled the Bulldogs within 40-30 and was Georgia's only basket in that stretch, with Zeigler connecting on three 3-pointers in the next 90 seconds to further ignite an already energized audience by that point.
"We all know how good of a basketball team we are and how capable we are when we are making shots," Mashack said in a news conference. "At halftime, we knew we were playing well defensively and that the shots would come."
Mashack never missed from the floor, collecting his 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting. Fellow senior guard Jordan Gainey, who is in his second season with the Vols after transferring from USC Upstate, actually led Tennessee with 19 points, but Zeigler was clearly the star of Wednesday's show.
The 5-foot-9, 171-pounder had 16 points, seven assists and a career-high six steals.
"He was just really and truly being Zakai," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. "He was finding ways to impact the game whether that was 94 feet away. His six steals were huge, and it really was him just being who he is."
When asked about Mashack's performance on a perfect accuracy night, Barnes quickly replied: "Defensively, he was spectacular."
Zeigler set his single-game steals standard on an evening when he became Tennessee's all-time leader in that category. Former Cleveland High School standout Vincent Yarbrough had set the program mark of 211 career steals from 1998-2002, but it was broken last season when fifth-year senior Santiago Vescovi reached 212.
"Last year, once Santi got it, I was happy for him," Zeigler said. "I also said, 'I'm just letting you know that I'm coming for that.' I know he's happy for me."
The Vols return to action when they visit Vanderbilt (14-3, 2-2) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. Eastern on the SEC Network).
No worries
Tennessee leading scorer Chaz Lanier, the senior guard and first-year transfer from North Florida, scored five points against Georgia on 2-of-16 shooting.
Lanier is 8-of-43 from the floor in his past three games, with his 25 combined points falling short of the 29 he tallied in the league opener against Arkansas.
"He's learning this level, and it's a different level for him," Barnes said. "He's getting guarded differently. To be able to win the game like we did without him having a big night was good."
Mashack also was asked about Lanier's recent struggles.
"The thing about Chaz that I don't think a lot of people know is that he's not an up-and-down guy," he said. "He doesn't get up when he's shooting well, and he doesn't get down when he's not. He's the same guy every day and in every practice, and whether he's shooting bad or not, he's figuring it out.
"I'm not worried about Chaz shooting the ball. With what he has already done, he is drawing in defenses to allow others to go off. He can go 2-for-16 and we'll still win, but I know Chaz, and he's not down after a game like this."
Odds and ends
Tennessee has led by at least 18 points in 14 of its 17 games. ... The Vols improved to 31-23 under Barnes in games involving two ranked teams. ... Tennessee is 7-1 in its past eight games against Georgia after going 2-9 in the previous 11.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.