Nothing has come easy for Tennessee at Reed Arena—even the wins.

Such was the case for the No. 6 Vols on Saturday after overcoming a sluggish shooting start in the form of a stellar individual outing from Chaz Lanier and then having to go blow-for-blow with No. 7 Texas A&M.

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At the end, Tennessee was left standing after 77-69 triumph and hope for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament remains.

Lanier scored 30 points, 22 of which came in the first half, while Zakai Zeigler finished with 16.

For the second-straight week, Zeigler was the ultimate hero, hitting a 3-pointer late in the shot clock that provided the dagger in the final seconds.

The Vols (22-5, 9-5 SEC) remain in play for one of the four 1 seeds, but needed to bolster their resume with three ranked teams left on their schedule, including two on the road.

Tennessee got one out of the way with its triumph of the Aggies (20-7, 9-6).

Here’s how it happened.

Tennessee and Texas A&M entered Saturday as two of the best defenses in the league. Their offenses have struggled at times, though and they got the best and worst of both early.

The Aggies jumped out to a 6-0 lead after taking nearly two minutes to score. It took the Vols three minutes to get on the board after Chaz Lanier knocked down a 3-pointer.

It didn’t suddenly fix Tennessee’s shooting woes, though. Lanier’s score was the Vols’ only field goal as Texas A&M stretched its lead to 14-5 after Wade Taylor IV scored off of a turnover.

Lanier ended a four-plus minute scoring drought with another three, but C.J. Wilcher answered with one of his own to swell the Tennessee deficit to 17-8.

The Vols withstood Texas A&M’s early blow, though, rattling off a 7-2 run that included Lanier’s third 3-pointer and a Darlinstone Dubar tip-in that pulled Tennessee within four at 19-15 with less than eight minutes left in the first half.

Lanier remained the Vols’ most consistent player, and the Aggies had no answers for him. He scored on back-to-back possessions before Zakai Zeigler laced a three to give Tennessee its first lead at 23-22 with six minutes to go.

Texas A&M went up again, but Lanier clapped back with his fifth 3-pointer as he remained perfect from the perimeter in the half.

Lanier finally did miss one, but then came back down and tallied his sixth to again give Tennessee the lead at 31-30.

The Vols offense elsewhere in pockets. Igor Milicic Jr. paid off an open look with a three that put the Vols up 34-32.

Texas A&M went the last 3:11 of the half without a field goal despite Zeigler sitting on the bench with two fouls.

Lanier made a jumper to give Tennessee a 36-32 advantage at halftime, but had cooled off in the second half.

Both teams traded baskets, staying even for much of the first six minutes of the half. The Aggies went up one on a pair of free throws from Taylor after Milicic was whistled for his fourth foul.

Texas A&M extended that lead to 51-48 off of a Henry Coleman III basket with 8:19 left.

Then Lanier provided one of his biggest scores of the afternoon, his seventh 3-pointer and first points of the game to draw the Vols even at 51-51.

Jahamai Mashack followed in with a put-back to give Tennessee a 53-51 lead as the clock ticked inside of seven minutes.

Lanier buried another to go in front and Jordan Gainey followed suit from deep to answer a Texas A&M score that pushed the Vols’ lead to 63-59 with less than four minutes left to play.

Another Gainey three a few possessions later gave Tennessee its largest lead at 68-62 with 2:28 to go.

The Aggies didn’t go away, getting within a possession, but Zeigler blocked Taylor’s game-tying three-point attempt and Gainey was fouled going after the ball with one minute left.

Gainey made both free throws, creating some much-needed separation, but it was Zeigler that landed the final blow.

His three late in the shot clock as Texas A&M tried to get the ball back down three fell through and Tennessee finally had the separation it needed with five seconds left.

Tennessee will face LSU in its second-straight road game on Tuesday.

The Vols play the Tigers at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge (9 p.m. ET, SEC Network) in the first meeting between the two teams this season.

LSU lost seven-straight SEC games but has won its last two over Oklahoma and South Carolina.

The Tigers (14-12, 3-10) play No. 2 Florida later today.

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