LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Chaz Lanier made 4 of 5 3-pointers and finished with 20 points, and No. 2 seed Tennessee advanced to a program-record third straight Sweet 16, beating seventh-seeded UCLA 67-58 in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.
The Volunteers (29-7) will play either sixth-seeded Illinois or No. 3 seed Kentucky, who play Sunday in Milwaukee. The Midwest Region semifinals will be Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Senior guard Jahmai Mashack said this kind of streak is what he wanted when he signed to play for coach Rick Barnes at Tennessee.
“I'm not saying that to be cocky,” Mashack said. “I'm saying that because I put in the work ... Just knowing that the Sweet 16 was a possibility that I wanted to get to, I wanted to do it and I knew this team was going to be able to do it.”
Lanier also set the Tennessee single-season record for 3s with 120, topping the 118 by Chris Lofton in 2007-08. Lofton was in the stands at Rupp Arena to witness Lanier's performance. Lanier called it a blessing and said the glory went to God. He hoped to talk with Lofton postgame.
“It's just a blessing," Lanier said of the record. “I want to shout out my teammates as well. They're always setting good screens for me and passing the ball on the money for me. So without them, I wouldn't be making the shots.”
Zakai Zeigler added 15 points for Tennessee, and Jordan Gainey had 13 points to help the Vols take a 19-point lead with 5:15 left.
UCLA (23-11) made its earliest exit from the tournament in the six-year tenure of coach Mick Cronin.
This was just the second meeting between these programs and first since 1977, a game won in a rout by UCLA in Atlanta. Tennessee took this round with smothering defense, holding UCLA to the fewest points the Bruins had scored in a loss this season.
Cronin said Tennessee’s experienced starting lineup, including a graduate transfer in Lanier and seniors in Zeigler, Mashack and Igor Milicic, was a huge advantage for Barnes and the Vols.
“Offensively, we weren't good enough,” Cronin said.
UCLA last led 25-24.
Tennessee scored the final eight points of the first half and led 32-25. The Vols, with Zeigler and Mashack two of the four finalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award, held UCLA scoreless over the final 3:21 of the half.
Skyy Clark, limited to barely three minutes of play in the first half by foul trouble, finished with 18 points for UCLA. Tyler Bilodeau added 15. Clark said he smacked himself on the head as he watched from the bench in the first half.
“Skyy not being able to play really threw us off for a long time,” Cronin said. “It messed the game up. We had a chance if that wouldn’t have happened, we might’ve had a lead at half.”
UCLA: The Bruins came in with the Big Ten's best scoring defense, holding opponents to 65.2 points a game. They committed just 11 turnovers compared to the Vols' 18, giving them fewer than their opponent in 28 of 34 games this season.
Tennessee: The Vols led the Southeastern Conference by allowing just 63 points a game and limiting opponents to 38.4% shooting — fourth stingiest in the nation. They also led the SEC and were third in the country in defending 3s with teams shooting just 28.2% outside the arc. The Vols shot 11 of 22 from 3.
The Vols opened the second half by outscoring UCLA 14-6. Cronin took a timeout with 14:11 left after Lanier hit his fourth 3, capping a 9-0 spurt for a 46-31 lead.
Tennessee is two wins away from the program's first Final Four berth in a season where the Vols spent five weeks ranked No. 1 in the country. Cronin got UCLA back to the tournament after last year's miss, with the Bruins turning in a good inaugural season in the Big Ten.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier (2) shoots against UCLA center Aday Mara (15) during the second half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Tennessee's Felix Okpara, center, battles with UCLA's Kobe Johnson, left, while UCLA's Tyler Bilodeau (34) defends during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/James Crisp)
Tennessee's Cade Phillips (12) and UCLA's Aday Mara (15) stretch for a rebound during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/James Crisp)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
